International Justice

The following is an extract from her speech:

Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s heinous crimes shocked us all. They deserve firm, unambiguous condemnation. The victims and their families deserve our strong support and solidarity. Hostages must be released, and those responsible for war crimes must be held to account. There is never any justification for targeting innocent civilians, but the very same principle is true when it comes to Israel's response to crimes by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. 

You cannot cut food, water, electricity that are vital for the lives of over 2 million people who have been living in a blockade for sixteen years. You cannot wipe out entire families, let a health system be destroyed, raze entire districts to the ground, refer to people as animals. You can't punish an entire population by preventing desperately needed aid from reaching them. 

International humanitarian law is clear. Atrocities from one side do not justify atrocities from the other side. No party to any conflict is above international humanitarian law. Israeli and Palestinian lives have the same dignity and attacks on either should spark the same level of indignation. But regrettably, this is not the message of your [EU] resolution last week.  

When double standards are exposed the motives of the EU are questioned and its credibility is eroded.  

Impunity fuels abuses. 

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The full statement is available here.

2021 

MYANMAR’S MILITARY 

OVERTHROWS THE 

CIVILIAN GOVERNMENT 

AND LAUNCHES A 

BLOODY NATIONWIDE 

CRACKDOWN.

 

BUT THIS IS NOT THE COUNTRY’S 

FIRST MILITARY COUP.

 

FOR THE PAST 60 YEARS,

GENERATIONS HAVE SUFFERED 

WIDESPREAD AND GRAVE ABUSES

 

BY MILITARY LEADERS SEEKING TO MAINTAIN POWER 

AT THE EXPENSE OF BASIC RIGHTS

 

AND SO FAR, THE GENERALS HAVE ENJOYED 

COMPLETE IMPUNITY FOR THEIR CRIMES.

 

1962 

GENERAL U NE WIN 

IMPOSES CATASTROPHIC

AUTHORITARIAN REGIME

 

DECADES OF REPRESSION FOLLOW

 

MASS UPRISINGS CRUSHED

 

SAFFRON REVOLUTION SUPPRESSED

 

IN ETHNIC AREAS

THE MILITARY USES 

 

SCORCHED EARTH STRATEGIES, 

TO INSTILL TERROR IN 

CIVILIAN POPULATIONS.

 

2017

MILITARY FORCES PERPETRATE A CAMPAIGN OF 

EXECUTIONS AND RAPE AGAINST THE ETHNIC ROHINGYA 

 

THE RESPONSE FROM THE 

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

IS WEAK.

 

THE GENERALS RESPONSIBLE FOR WAR CRIMES 

 

AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

 

HAVE NOT BEEN HELD ACCOUNTABLE. 

 

PROTESTERS ARE RISKING THEIR LIVES  

FOR FREEDOM AND JUSTICE

 

GOVERNMENTS NEED TO SHOW THE PEOPLE OF MYANMAR 

THAT THEY ARE NOT ALONE IN THAT FIGHT.

 

THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL 

SHOULD URGENTLY 

BAN ARM SALES 

TO MYANMAR 

 

AND REFER THE 

SITUATION IN MYANMAR TO THE

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT.