In a statement at the UN Human Rights Council, Australia’s representative to the council, Angela Robinson, said: “Australia would support investigating possible options for a United Nations commission of inquiry”.

“The Special Rapporteur’s report to the Council again confirmed the dire human rights situation in Myanmar and reaffirmed the need for the international community to remain engaged in seeking to improve the situation,” Ms Robinson said.“Australia noted the Special Rapporteur’s suggestion that United Nations institutions might consider the possibility of establishing a commission of inquiry to address the question of international crimes in Myanmar.“

Australia is the first country to endorse this initiative for justice and accountability in Burma.

British ambassador to the UN, Mark Lyell, backed the recommendation by the UN’s Special Rapporteur to Burma for a commission of inquiry to be set up. He said the UK Government would support the referral of a case to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“Because Burma is not a state party to the ICC it would require the Security Council to make a reference, and I don’t think the Security Council is sufficiently unanimous in its view to allow such a reference to happen. We of course would support such a reference,” said Mr Lyell.

The Czech government stated: “The Czech Republic remains concerned at continuous grave human rights violations in Burma/Myanmar…We believe that the possibility of establishing a Commission of Inquiry should be seriously examined.”

Slovakian government became the fourth country to support the establishment of a UN-led Commission of Inquiry to investigate crimes against humanity and war crimes taking place in Burma.

“What’s important here is that this is not aimed at the people of Burma but at its leadership, particularly at Than Shwe,” said a senior administration official.

According to a spokesperson to the Canadian Foreign Minister, “Canada supports both the UN Special Rapporteur’s work on human rights abuses in Burma, and the idea of a UN Commission of Inquiry into human rights abuses by the Burmese regime.”

81 MPs and Senators also endorsed such call. A number of Canadian civil society organizations including labor unions and Burmese dissident communities in Canada also requested the government t o support this call.

In his letter to the EPCB (European Parliamentary Caucus on Burma), the Hungarian Foreign Minister, Janor Martonyi, said: “The Republic of Hungary welcomes and supports your [EPCS] recommendation to establish a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the current situation in Burma. We are convinced that the Commission could succeed in investigating the current situation and in this way contribute to the promotion of human rights in Burma.”

New Zealand joins the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary in publicly supporting the proposal for an investigation into crimes against humanity in Burma.

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that its minister, Maxime Verhagen, was “indeed supportive of calls for a UN commission of inquiry on human rights violations in Burma”.

In an e-mail to Mizzima, Jetty Kouwen, a senior policy officer at the ministry’s Southeast Asia and Oceania department, said that the Netherlands “will work closely with all other partners, within the EU and outside” to advance the cause of an international inquiry.

He stated: “In Burma, 1,200 prisoners were still not liberated. Human rights were still systematically violated and France expressed its support for the Special Rapporteur’s recommendation to establish an international commission of inquiry.”

France is the tenth country to vouch for this measure.

In an email sent to Mizzima, Irish Department of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Amanda Bane wrote: “We remain actively engaged at national, EU and international level in monitoring the situation in Burma and in our efforts to support the Burmese people in their struggle for democracy and human rights.”

Lithuania is the 7th European Union country to publicly support this important measure on Burma.

Mr Jaanus Varu, advisor to the Bureau of Asia, Australia, and Oceania of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said:

“I would like to inform you that after a thorough analysis and deliberations it has been decided to support the idea presented in the March 2010 report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Tomás Ojea Quintana to the UN Human Rights Council to found on international committee of inquiry in the appropriate body of the UN on the violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Burma/Myanmar

In his declaration to the Federal Parliament, Mr Steven Van Ackere, Foreign Affairs Minister, stated that “There is abundant proof of the possible crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Burmese generals, and these crimes occur increasingly. The time has come for these (crimes) to be investigated, in order to put an end to the culture of impunity, which feeds on a daily basis the oppression in Burma…We must fight against impunity wherever, and whenever it occurs.”

In a statement by the Danish Ambassador Birger Riis-Jorgensen, he said: “Denmark supports in principle the establishment of an international investigation into human rights abuses in Burma/Myanmar. This can be an important element in a national reconciliation process. As noted in your letter, the idea of a Commission of Inquiry was first expressed by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma/Myanmar, Mr Quintana, in March 2010. Such a Commission could be a possible model for an international investigation. Before steps are taken we need, however, to establish broad international support in order to make sure that an investigative commission will be able to conduct its work in the most effective way.”

This makes Denmark the 15th country to support such an international investigation on Burma.

Latvia is the 16th country to support such an international investigation on Burma.