Can persons suspected of serious laws-of-war violations in Burma be prosecuted in other countries?
As explained above, the International Criminal Court is currently unable to investigate and prosecute crimes committed in Burma, because Burma is not a party to the Statute of the ICC nor has the UN Security Council referred the situation of Burma to the court. In light of these limitations in terms of international justice, national courts can and should play a role in combating impunity for grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, in applying the principle of “universal jurisdiction” (see above). Many countries have laws that would permit them to exercise universal jurisdiction and prosecute war crimes, torture and crimes against humanity under various conditions. There has been a rise in the number of cases prosecuted under universal jurisdiction laws in the past decade, particularly in Western Europe. Investigation and prosecution of serious international crimes committed in a foreign country is not an easy task but successful prosecutions in national co
