US: Act Now on Burma Commission of Inquiry [-Please don't forget inquiries into Hun Xen's Cambodia!]

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gives a foreign policy speech regarding US-Asia Pacific relations before her trip to the Asian Pacific region, in Honolulu, Hawaii on October 28, 2010. (Photo: Reuters)

EU, Other States Should Back Clinton’s Call Now

October 29, 2010

Source: Human Rights Watch

"The US is finally starting to show leadership in turning talk of an international commission of inquiry for war crimes into Burma a reality. Other countries favoring a commission should join the United States in moving from making public statements of support to taking concrete steps to make it happen." - Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch

(New York) ­- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should use her trips to Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the G20 summit, and the European Union-US summit to intensively build active support for an international commission of inquiry on Burma, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch welcomed Clinton's October 28, 2010 commitment to pursue such a commission, and urged countries supporting a commission to collaborate on a strategic diplomatic plan to make this proposal happen.

On October 28, Clinton said at a news conference in Hawaii, "I would like to underscore the American commitment to seek accountability for the human rights violations that have occurred in Burma by working to establish an international commission of inquiry through close consultations with our friends, allies, and other partners at the United Nations."