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BURMA: Leading comedian working for cyclone victims arrested

June 5, 2008

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-126-2008

5 June 2008
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BURMA: Leading comedian working for cyclone victims arrested

ISSUES: Rule of law, arbitrary arrest and detention
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CYCLONE NARGIS WEBPAGE
http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/cyclonenargis/

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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that Zarganar, a famous comedian in Burma who has been leading some of the relief efforts after Cyclone Nargis, had his house searched and was taken away last night, June 4.

CASE DETAILS:

According to information from a number of sources, around seven police led by the Rangoon Western District police chief together with the local council chairman came to comedian Zarganar's house in Rangoon just before 8pm on June 4 and went inside saying that they just wanted to search it. After they recovered a computer, some VCDs of the cyclone damage as well as the new Rambo movie (the story is situated in Burma) and the wedding video of the junta leader's daughter (see UA-150-2007) they said that they would also take Zarganar with them "for a short while", meaning "around a couple of days". They also took around USD 1000 of money for the cyclone relief effort.

Zarganar has been working constantly on cyclone relief since May 7, and has given interviews to overseas-based radio stations and other media about his work and the needs of the people. He had also ridiculed state media reports about the cyclone aftermath. According to his sister, he had used all his own money for the cyclone victims and had sold his and his wife's mobile phones (which are expensive in Burma) to fund the work. He had organised over 400 volunteers to work in some 42 villages that had been neglected since the cyclone struck. The district official who led the group to the house said that Zarganar being taken away does not have anything to do with his relief work but his family does not accept this.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

There have been many efforts by the authorities in Burma to block not only international relief from reaching cyclone victims but also the domestic donors who stepped in to assist. See for instance AHRC-UAC-117-2008 on the detaining of car drivers and vehicles. Local journalists trying to cover the story have also been held for short periods and threatened, but Zarganar is the first leader of local relief efforts to be detained.

Zarganar was also detained last September for his role in the monk-led protests but was later released. See UP-126-2007 and UP-125-2007.

For more information on human rights issues after Cyclone Nargis please visit: http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/cyclonenargis/


SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the persons listed below to call for Zarganar to be released immediately. Please note that for the purpose of the letter, the country should be referred to by its official title of Myanmar, rather than Burma.

Please be informed that the AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, the UN Working Group on arbitrary detention and the regional human rights office for Southeast Asia, calling for interventions into this case.

To support this appeal, please click here:

Sample Letter:

Dear ___________,

MYANMAR: Prominent comedian Zarganar detained apparently over cyclone relief work

I am writing to voice my concern over the detaining of prominent comedian Zarganar, a.k.a. Ko Thura, apparently in connection with his role in Cyclone Nargis relief efforts during the last month, and to call for his immediate release.

According to the information I have received, a group of around nine officials led by the police chief of the Yangon Western District Police, including the Ward Peace and Development Council chairman, military intelligence, five Special Branch police and another officer came to Zarganar's house on Shankone Road, Sanchaung Township, Yangon, just before 8pm and said that they needed to search the house. After searching, they said that Zarganar would have to go with them for around two days. They also removed items from the house including a computer board, VCDs, two books with accounts and around USD 1000. They took Zarganar to a car waiting at the intersection at the end of the street around 10pm and left the house around 10:45pm.

It is unclear to me under what law or on what grounds Zarganar has been taken. According to those persons present no information was given about why he was been removed except that the district official denied that it was anything to do with the relief work. However, this seems unlikely given that Zarganar has been involved in this work constantly since a few days after the cyclone struck on May 2, and also given that he has made interviews with foreign media outlets about his work.

Under any circumstances, the statement that he would be held for two days makes no sense under domestic law because both the Penal Code under section 61and new constitution, which was ratified on May 29, under article 10(b), lay down that a person cannot be held for more than 24 hours without the express permission of a law court. This is on top of the various other breaches of criminal procedure apparent in this case.   

I call for the immediate release of Zarganar from illegal custody and return of his possessions. I also take this opportunity to call for the allowing of free and open relief to victims of Cyclone Nargis and no further harassment of persons involved in working on getting help to cyclone victims, for an investigation into the alleged deaths in custody of at least 40 prisoners in Insein Jail at the time that the cyclone struck and shortly thereafter and for the release from detention of all persons illegally imprisoned and wrongly tried in connection with last September's protests. 

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: +95 67 412 439

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: +95 67 412 439

6. U Aung Bwa
Director-General, ASEAN-Myanmar
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Pyinmana
MYANMAR
Tel: +951 229 214; 221 191
Fax: +951 222 950; 221 719
E-mail: dgaseanmofa@myanmar.com.mm

7. 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

8. Surin Pitsuwan
Secretary General
ASEAN Secretariat
70A, Jalan Sisingamangaraja
Jakarta 12110
INDONESIA
Fax: +62 21 7398234/ 7243504
Email: termsak@aseansec.org, lina@aseansec.org 

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-126-2008
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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.