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BURMA: Monks, nuns and civilians still detained after nationwide protests in September 2007

February 6, 2008

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-024-2008

6 February 2008
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BURMA: Monks, nuns and civilians still detained after nationwide protests in September 2007

ISSUES: Arbitrary, illegal arrest and detention
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BURMA: 2007 PROTESTS
http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/burmaprotests/

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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has updated lists of some of the monks, nuns and civilians who were arrested on charges of destroying and damaging places of worship, during the military-led crackdown on protestors in September 2007. Please refer to the lists (PDF) for more details.

CASE DETAILS:

List 1

Eighteen monks and nuns were detained in North and South Oakkalapa Township of Rangoon, on 28 September 2007, from Thitsatharapu Monastery, Hanthawadi Monastery, and South Oakkalapa. They have been charged with "destroying, damaging or defiling any place of worship, with the intention of thereby insulting the religion" and for acting maliciously to intentionally offend the religious beliefs of others, which carries a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment. All have been derobed and forced to revert to their civilian names, and will face trial on 7 February 2008.

Monks and nuns who are released are must complete and sign a form, whereby they are forced to admit having committing a crime. (To view the form, please go to http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/burmaprotests/pledgeform.pdf)

List 2

Furthermore, sixty-seven civilians were detained on 5 and 28 September 2007, of which a number have been charged under the Arms Act and the Emergency Provisions Act, with the intent to "spread false news, knowing or having reason to believe that it is not true" and "to alarm the people…in a way that would create panic amongst them". A number have allegedly not had access to a lawyer or been able to meet family members whilst being held in custody for over three months.

The AHRC has also received incomplete lists of twelve monks who have either disappeared or have died, ten students who have been dismissed from the Sathana University and fifteen monks who are outside the country. Furthermore, the AHRC has received a list of fifty-seven monasteries that have been searched and destroyed by the authorities. Both Maggin Monastery in Thingankyun and Pago Monastery were forced to close.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

The AHRC has closely followed and documented the internationally deplored protests in Burma of August and September 2007. More information on the protests, including statements and appeals can be found at the webpage: http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/burmaprotests/

Following the nationwide protests, the AHRC has issued numerous appeals of cases linked to the protests, including most recently that of Khin Sanda Win, a 23-year-old university student who was illegally detained and held at a special military camp (please see: UAC-022-2008).

In December the AHRC's sister organisation issued a comprehensive report on Burma: "Burma, political psychosis and legal dementia". The report contains a lengthy section on the protests.

For further general information on Burma see also the 2007 AHRC Human Rights Report chapter on Burma, and visit the AHRC Burma homepage: http://burma.ahrchk.net.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter to the concerned domestic and international agencies to raise your concern over the alarming number of detainees held and charged following the nationwide protests in Burma. Please note that for the sake of this letter the country should be referred to by its official title of Myanmar rather than Burma, and Rangoon as Yangon.

The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Working Group on arbitrary detention and Special Rapporteurs on Myanmar, on violence against women and on freedom of religion or belief, calling for intervention in these cases.

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear __________,

MYANMAR: Monks, nuns and civilians still detained after nationwide disturbances in September 2007

I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the large number of persons that have been charged and detained since the nationwide protests in Myanmar in September 2007.

I am aware that among those detained, eighteen monks and nuns were taken from North and South Oakkalapa Township, of Yangon, on 28 September 2007, from Thitsatharapu Monastery, Hanthawadi Monastery, and South Oakkalapa. They have been charged with "destroying, damaging or defiling any place of worship...with the intention of thereby insulting the religion" under Penal Code Section 295 and for acting maliciously to intentionally offend the religious beliefs of others under Section 295A, which carries a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment. All have been derobed and forced to revert to their civilian names, and will face trial on 7 February 2008.

Furthermore, at least sixty-seven civilians, who were detained on 5 and 28 September 2007, of which a number have been charged under the Arms Act and Section 5J of the Emergency Provisions Act, which includes the intent to "spread false news, knowing or having reason to believe that it is not true" and "to alarm the people...in a way that would create panic amongst them". A number have allegedly not had access to a lawyer or been able to meet family members whilst being held in custody for three months under Section 5J of the Emergency Provisions Act.

I am also aware that several students have been dismissed from Sathana University and a number of monks have been forced to go outside the country. Furthermore, it has come to my attention that there have been a large number of monasteries that have been searched and damaged by the authorities, whilst both Maggin Monastery in Thingankyun and Pago Monastery were forced to close.

In light of the above, I urge you to thoroughly investigate the alarming number of cases so far reported without delay, to conduct a complete review of the charges and trials of these persons and to release those held without charge at once. Furthermore, I urge you to ensure that each person is treated in accordance with domestic and international laws, and is brought before the courts within 24 hours or are immediately released. Lastly, I call for the granting of immediate access to all detainees by the ICRC, concerned United Nations agencies, lawyers and family members.

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: +95 67 412 079/ 549 393/ 549 663
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. U Aung Toe
Chief Justice
Office of the Supreme Court
Office No. 24
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: + 95 67 404 080/ 071/ 078/ 067 or + 95 1 372 145
Fax: + 95 67 404 059

4. U Aye Maung
Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Office No. 25
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: +95 67 404 088/ 090/ 092/ 094/ 097
Fax: +95 67 404 146/ 106

5. Brig-Gen. Khin Yi
Director General
Myanmar Police Force
Ministry of Home Affairs
Office No. 10
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: +95 67 412 079/ 549 393/ 549 663
Fax: +951 549 663 / 549 208

6. Mr. Patrick Vial
Head of Delegation
ICRC
No. 2 (C) - 5 Dr. Ba Han Lane
Kaba Aye Pagoda Road, 8th Mile
Mayangone Township
Yangon
MYANMAR
Tel: +951 662 613 / 664 524
Fax: +951 650 117
E-mail: yangon.yan@icrc.org

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-024-2008
Countries :
Issues :
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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.