Burma blocked aid supplies – report
THE UNITED Nations Security Council should refer Burma (Myanmar) to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the manner in which it blocked humanitarian relief efforts during last year’s cyclone in the country, according to an independent inquiry into the episode.
A report, framed around extensive interviews with relief workers and survivors, says the government’s “systematic obstruction” of relief aid, penalisation of minority ethnic groups and use of forced labour in reconstruction could constitute crimes against humanity.
The report, published today by a group of leading international healthcare experts, says the Burmese government had been more concerned about forcing through a referendum on an authoritarian new constitution on May 10th last year rather than dealing with Cyclone Nargis, which struck eight days earlier, killing 140,000 and affecting 3.4 million people. continue http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0227/1224241893701.html
read report after the storm http://www.scribd.com/doc/12832439/ExecSum-After-the-Storm-Final-23Feb09
