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BURMA: Family given paltry compensation for death of porter in army service

January 31, 2008

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-018-2008

31 January 2008
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BURMA: Family given paltry compensation for death of porter in army service

ISSUES: Custodial deaths; forced labour; armed forces
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article 2 Special Report
BURMA, POLITICAL PSYCHOSIS & LEGAL DEMENTIA
www.article2.org 

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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that the family of a man who was taken to serve as a porter for the Burma army was paid less than six US dollars as compensation for his death. The victim died in 2006 after he was taken from the central prison. Up to now the family has not received any more compensation, although his wife has requested it, nor have they received proof of death.

CASE DETAILS:

According to the information we have received so far, 31-year-old Htun Htun Naing was arrested on a gambling charge and jailed at Insein Prison, from where he was taken on 21 June 2006.

Htun Htun Naing was forced to serve as a porter for the army in one of the eastern border areas, where on August 17 he died.

However, his family was not notified of his death until November 9, when an army officer came to their house to inform them that he had died of malaria, and collect documents. He only told them verbally of the death and did not show any death certificate or doctor's report to confirm that it was due to malaria and not some other cause, or that the victim is really deceased. He told Htun Htun Naing's wife that she should also go to the army battalion office, but because of its distant location and as the family is living in poverty she could not go.

The family was shocked to be notified in a document from the defence ministry of 30 January 2007 that it was decided to award 7200 Kyat compensation for Htun Htun Naing's death. On the current exchange rate, this amount is less than six US dollars.

Although the family has requested that the case be reviewed and additional compensation be given, to date they are not known to have received anything further.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The military government of Burma acknowledges uses convicts on farming projects, open cut mines and in other labour projects; criminal sentences typically are for rigorous imprisonment. However, it denies using them as porters for the army in remote areas of the country where there are no roads to transport supplies to outposts.

Nonetheless, rights groups have widely documented the use of convict porters, and some allege that it is increasing as the army has been pressed to use fewer civilians from local areas. See for instance: "Less than human" (KHRG) and "From prison to frontline" (Burma Issues).

In 2007 the AHRC issued an appeal on a man who was allegedly abducted and forced to serve as an army porter (UA-226-2007). His case is being followed by the International Labour Organisation's office in Burma. However, no further information is available on his whereabouts.

For further general information on Burma see also the 2007 AHRC Human Rights Report chapter on Burma, the recent special report, "Burma, political psychosis and legal dementia", and visit the AHRC Burma homepage: http://burma.ahrchk.net.

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SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the prime minister and home affairs minister to call for an investigation of this case and adequate compensation for the family. Please note that for the purpose of the letter, the country should be referred to by its official title of Myanmar, rather than Burma. The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar calling for his intervention in this case.

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ___________,

MYANMAR: Paltry compensation for death of prisoner serving military operation

Details of victim: Htun Htun Naing, 31 (at time of death), Service ID No. C/1312, son of U Myint Shwe, married with three children, a textile worker from Mingalardon Township, Yangon; died in Myanmar Armed Forces custody on 17 August 2006
Serving with: Infantry Battalion 250, stationed at Loikaw, Kayah State, from 21 June 2006
Payment to family: 7200 Kyat (approx. USD 5.75) in order of 30 January 2007

I am shocked to learn that the family of a man who died after he was allegedly taken illegally to serve as a worker in an operation for the Myanmar Armed Forces has been compensated with an amount equivalent to less than six US dollars.

According to the details that I have received, after Htun Htun Naing was jailed on a gambling offence he was on 21 June 2006 taken from Insein Prison and sent to serve as a worker on a military operation under IB 250, based in Loikaw.

On 9 November 2006, Deputy Warrant Officer Aung Kyaw Htun visited Htun Htun Naing's family and notified them that he had died of malaria on August 17. The officer did not give any documents to prove that he was dead or cause of death, such as a death certificate and medical report. However, he took the house register, victim's national identity card and proof of residency document from the ward council office in order to process the case, and advised the family to go to the army battalion. But because of the battalion's distant location and the poverty of the family, they could not go.

Thereafter, the family was shocked when notified in a document from the Ministry of Defence of 30 January 2007 that it had decided to award the family with 7200 Kyat compensation for Htun Htun Naing's death. On the current exchange rate, this amount is less than six US dollars.

Although the family has since requested that the case be reviewed and additional compensation be given, to date they are not known to have received anything further. Nor have they received documents to prove the death and circumstances of death.

I am aware that although the Government of Myanmar denies that convicts are used for the purposes of military operations, such practices have been widely documented and collaborated. And in this case, without regard to the circumstances under which Htun Htun Naing was brought to serve in the army operation, there can be no excuse for the appallingly low amount of compensation paid to his family or the fact that the family has also not been given written documentation to prove the circumstances of his death, which raises serious questions about what actually happened to him.

Accordingly, I urge you to conduct an investigation of this case to establish what happened to Htun Htun Naing--how he was brought to serve in a military operation far from his residence, how he died and what happened to his remains--and to review the amount of compensation paid to the family. In the event that it is also found that he was illegally forced to serve in the military operation in violation of Order 1/99 and the Supplementary Order on forced labour, I urge that criminal action be taken against those officers responsible.

Yours sincerely

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Maj-Gen. Maung Oo
Minister for Home Affairs
Ministry of Home Affairs
Office No. 10
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: +951 250 315 / 374 789
Fax: +951 549 663 / 549 208

2. Lt-Gen. Thein Sein
Prime Minister
c/o Ministry of Defence
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: + 95 1 372 681
Fax: + 95 1 652 624

3. Mr. Steve Marshall
Liaison Officer (Myanmar)
International Labour Organization (ILO)
4, route des Morillons
CH-1211 Geneva 22
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 798 8685
E-mail: marshall@ilo.org

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrchk.org)

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AHRC-UAC-018-2008
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.