The Long Fuse

About this episode

Dr. Stuart Casey-Maslen discusses the challenges of achieving justice for war crimes in Myanmar.

Episode #545: The promise of justice for war crimes in Myanmar is far from perfect, says Dr. Stuart Casey-Maslen, a leading legal expert on disarmament and international humanitarian law. The military regime’s alleged war crimes continue unchecked, with airstrikes against civilian targets, the destruction of homes, schools, and places of worship, and indiscriminate use of landmines exacting a cruel toll. On a different scale, some resistance armed groups have also been accused of war crimes. “Justice can, and sometimes does, catch up with you even many years afterwards,” says Casey-Maslen, who is editor of the Mine Action Review and has written extensively on international law related to landmines. “If a member of the Tatmadaw, or a senior official in the Myanmar government, travels in years to come to one of many countries that have legislation for war crimes or crimes against humanity… that can also be a prosecution of the use of an anti-personnel mine.” Anti-personnel landmines fall into a distinct class of “victim-activated” weapons, which are designed to be detonated by the victim. The deliberate delay between the deployment and detonation also distinguishes landmines from…

People in this episode

Guest: Dr. Stuart Casey-Maslen

Topics covered

• war crimes
• justice
• Myanmar military
• international law
• landmines
• humanitarian law

Keywords

• war crimes
• Myanmar
• landmines
• international law
• humanitarian law
• justice

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Mine Action Review

Places: Myanmar, Tatmadaw

More episodes of Insight Myanmar

• When the War Comes Home · June 12, 2026 · 2h 19m
• Burden of Rule · June 11, 2026 · 2h 26m
• Built From Scrap · June 9, 2026 · 2h 19m
• Practice Outside the Lines · June 8, 2026 · 2h 6m
• The Architecture Of Exclusion · June 5, 2026 · 1h 28m
• An Officer and a Gentleman · June 4, 2026 · 2h 37m