Little Rohingya girl by the barbed wire fence
On March 6-7, representatives of Rohingya and Kachin victim groups of Myanmar are presenting first-hand, live and recorded, testimonies about crimes allegedly committed by the Myanmar state against their groups to the Rome-based Permanent People’s Tribunal.
They will bring forth the charges that the Myanmar government is committing crimes, such as war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
Additionally, expert witnesses from around the world, including Professor Penny Green (QMUL), Dr Mandy Sadan (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London), Azril Mohamed Amin (Centre for Human Rights Research and Advocacy, Malaysia), are testifying on specific crimes and/or the historical context of grave violations under international law.
Rohingya lady with fearful and sad eyes
Video-recorded testimonies of Rohingya rape victims, who recently fled to Bangladesh, will also be presented to the Panel of Jury.
The Dalai Lama has issued a formal statement, which will be released during the press conference of the Opening Sessions, on Tuesday 7th March. The Tibetan Buddhist leader disclosed that he has ‘privately communicated to Nobel Laureate ad Burmese leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’ about his concerns regarding the persecution of the Rohingya.
Among the initial Panel of Jury, are Prof Daniel Feierstein, renowned genocide scholar & former President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), Dr Helen Jarvis, former Public Affairs Officer at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, and Denis Halliday, UN Assistant Secretary-General (1994-98) and winner of Gandhi International Peace Award 2003.
The inaugural session in London will be hosted at, and webcast live from, the ISCI of QMUL, on 6th March (1000 GMT to 1800 GMT) and 7th March (0900 GMT – 1200 GMT).
Rohingya young men with the armed guard
The opening session will end with a press conference at 1200 GMT. An announcement about the full and final session to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, will be made at the end of Tuesday’s proceedings.
The tribunal sessions which are open to public, can be viewed live at http://tribunalonmyanmar.org/ & followed on twitter @MyanmarTribunal, #MyanmarTribunal
The People’s Tribunal on Myanmar has been endorsed by over 20 Rohingya, Kachin & Burmese organizations worldwide, International State Crime Initiative of QMUL, S. Africa’s Protect the Rohingya Campaign, Genocide Watch, Burma Task Force USA, Malaysian human rights networks such as JUST and Centhra, and individual genocide prevention campaigners including Youk Chhang of Cambodia.
Rohingya rape victim
Burma Task Force USA said the Tribunal is a people’s initiative, made possible by the generous support of the ISCI, QMUL, individual activists: Mark Sampson, Ko Aung, the Rohingya community in London, and Burma Task Force (USA), and Women collective for people's rights, Lecco, Italy.
All 1.5 day sessions to be webcast LIVE by Oxford Digital Media: https://www.oxforddigitalmedia.com/media-gallery/
Webcast can be viewed on the official Tribunal website at: http://tribunalonmyanmar.org/
Tribunal proceedings may be followed on twitter @MyanmarTribunal #MyanmarTribunal : Contact email: info@TribunalOnMyanmar.org
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