UPDATE (Burma): Another complaint registered against local authorities in Henzada Township 

Dear friends

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received new documentation from the Burma Lawyers’ Council, Thailand showing that another villager in Henzada Township, Ayeyawaddy Division, Burma has lodged a complaint of forced labour against the local authorities. The complaint follows an earlier complaint by two villagers, which relates to the same incident, in Oatpone village, Kanyinngu Village Tract. That complaint was detailed in the earlier Urgent Appeal (UA-112-2004).

According to local sources, other villagers are prepared to lodge complaints in this case. They are aware that the case is receiving international attention, and have been emboldened to act. To date no government authorities in Burma have ever been held responsible for extracting forced labour, despite the practice being endemic, and outlawed as of 1999. If a mass action against the authorities of Oatpone village follows, it will be unprecedented.

The AHRC urges you to write to the relevant authorities to ensure that this case is properly investigated, the complainants not subjected to further threats and harassment by the authorities, and the alleged perpetrators treated in accordance with the law.

Urgent Appeals Desk

Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

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UPDATED INFORMATION:

Victim:

1. U Mya Sein, resident of Oatpone village, Kanyinngu Village Tract, Henzada Township, Ayeyawaddy Division

Alleged perpetrators: U Tin Htun, Chairman of the Kanyinngu Village Tract Peace and Development Council, and two other council members, U Tin Shwe and U Winn Hlaing

Date of incident: 25 December 2003

Further to our earlier Urgent Appeal (UA-112-2004), another villager, U Mya Sein, has lodged a complaint in the Henzada Township Court, Irrawaddy Division, alleging that he was obliged to serve as a sentry at the village monastery. In his complaint (no. 1542/2004), lodged on 8 September 2004 by Supreme Court lawyer Daw Mya Mya Aye, U Mya Sein states that he was summoned by U Tin Htun to the house of U Tin Shwe on 25 December 2003 for failing to serve as a sentry. U Winn Hlaing was also present at the house when he arrived. Then U Tin Shwe asked him, “Why didn’t you serve as a sentry?” And threatened, “Didn’t you see that U Ohn Myint was jailed for failing to serve?” U Ohn Myint is one of the two petitioners in one of the cases referred to in the previous appeal. He was sentenced to six-months’ rigorous imprisonment.

U Mya Sein states that after he was threatened, he was afraid not to go to serve as a sentry, therefore, he served against his will on approximately seven occasions. Like the other petitioners, he complains that this violates orders against forced labour issued by the government in 1999 and 2000, and has lodged his complaint under section 374 of the Penal Code, which provides for one-year’s imprisonment and a fine.

It has also become known that some twenty other villagers are prepared to lodge petitions against the village tract council for being forced to serve as sentries. Such a large-scale action by villagers against the local authorities on forced labour is unprecedented in Burma. Therefore, the villagers are in urgent need of strong support for their cases, in order that the authorities will be held to account for their actions in accordance with domestic law.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the Attorney General to press for guarantees that the petitioner in this and other cases on forced labour will have their complaints properly investigated, not be subjected to threats and harassment by the authorities, and that the alleged perpetrators will treated in accordance with the law. A suggested letter follows. Please note that for the purposes of these letters, the country should be referred to by its official title of Myanmar, rather than Burma.

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Dear Attorney General,

I have been informed that another person from Oatpone village, Kanyinngu Village Tract, Henzada Township, has lodged a section 374 complaint against chairman of the Kanyinngu Village Tract Peace and Development Council, U Tin Htun, and two council members, U Tin Shwe and U Winn Hlaing, for forced labour.

According to the information I have received, Supreme Court lawyer Daw Mya Mya Aye (No. 2475) lodged the complaint on 8 September 2004, on behalf of U Mya Sein, an Oatpone villager who was forced to serve as a sentry at the village monastery. In the complaint, U Mya Sein states that U Tin Htun summoned him to the house of U Tin Shwe on 25 December 2003 for failing to serve as a sentry. U Winn Hlaing was also present at the house when he arrived. Then U Tin Shwe threatened that if he did not serve as a sentry, he would be jailed. U Mya Sein states that after he was threatened, he was afraid not to go to serve as a sentry, therefore, he served against his will on approximately seven occasions.

This petition comes subsequent to an earlier petition alleging the same mistreatment by two persons, Ko Khin Zaw and U Ohn Myint, who were jailed for failing to perform sentry duties at the same monastery under orders from U Tin Htun. The petitions consist of credible allegations supported by documentary evidence, and they deserve serious investigation and punishment of the alleged perpetrators if they are found guilty.

I note with concern that although extracting forced labour has been made a criminal offence in Myanmar subject to one-year’s imprisonment and a fine, pursuant to Order 1/99 and the Supplementary Order, to date no state agents are known to have been found guilty of this offence. This is despite consistent and reliable reports of widespread forced labour practices throughout the country.

Even more disturbing are reports that accused local authorities have used their positions to take revenge against villagers initiating action against them, on the grounds that they have been criminally defamed. Criminal defamation is itself an outdated law that in many countries has been withdrawn from statutes. Under any circumstances, mere allegations of wrongdoing against state authorities should never lead to defamation cases.

As the most senior law officer in the country, I expect that you must be concerned to ensure that the laws prohibiting forced labour are properly enforced. I also expect that you will be keen to guarantee that allegations of forced labour are not followed by misuse of authority by local government officials. In particular, I expect that you will be interested to see to it that Order 1/99 and its Supplementary Order are respected by local authorities and fully implemented. Accordingly, I urge you to pay particular attention to the petitions of U Mya Sein and the other complainants in the Henzada Township Court, to ensure that the complaints are properly investigated, and the complainants not subjected to threats by the Kanyinngu Village Tract Peace and Development Council officials. Finally, I urge you to ensure that the alleged perpetrators will be properly treated in accordance with the law, and that the complainants will not themselves be subjected to legal action for bringing forward their petitions.

Finally, I urge you to hold discussions with the mission of the International Labour Office in Yangon to ensure that Order 1/99 and the Supplementary Order are effectively implemented without further delay, and that complainants under Penal Code section 374 are offered protection in making their complaints.

Yours sincerely

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Dr. Tun Shin

Director General

Office of the Attorney General

101 Pansodan Street

Kyauktada Township

Yangon

MYANMAR

Fax: + 95 1 371 028

PLEASE SEND COPIES TO:

1. General Khin Nyunt

Prime Minister

c/o Ministry of Defence

Signal Pagoda Road

Yangon

MYANMAR

Fax: + 95 1 652 624

2. Colonel Tin Hlaing

Chairman

Myanmar Human Rights Committee & Minister for Home Affairs

c/o Ministry of Home Affairs

Corner of Saya San Street and No 1 Industrial Street,

Yankin Township

Yangon

MYANMAR

Fax: +95 1 549 663 / 549 208

3. Mr Leon de Riedmatten

Facilitator for ILO Liason Officer to Myanmar

Henry Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue
114 Rue de Lausanne
CH-1202
Geneva
Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 908 1140

4. Mr. Paulo Sergio Pineheiro

Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar

OCHR-UNOG, Palais Wilson,

Rue des Paquis 52, Geneva

SWITZERLAND

Fax: + 41 22 9179 018

5. Mr. Leandro Despouy

Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers

OHCHR-UNOG,

1211 Geneva 10,

SWITZERLAND

Fax: +41 22 917 9006

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme

Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)