What international law applies to the armed conflicts in Burma?
The internal armed conflicts between the government of Burma, and several non-state armed groups is governed by international treaties and the rules of customary international law. Customary international law, based on established state practices, binds all parties to an armed conflict, whether states such as Burma or non-state armed groups such as the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), and concerns the conduct of hostilities. Relevant treaty law includes Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, which sets forth minimum standards for the proper treatment of persons within a warring party’s control, namely civilians and wounded and captured combatants.[7] Who is primarily responsible for ensuring accountability of individuals who have committed serious human rights and laws-of-war violations? Ensuring justice for serious violations is, in the first instance, the responsibility of the states whose nationals are implicated in the violations. States have an obligation to inv
