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BURMA: At least three more rights defenders arrested over cyclone relief work

August 12, 2008

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal General: AHRC-UAC-183-2008

12 August 2008
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BURMA: At least three more rights defenders arrested over cyclone relief work

ISSUES: Rule of law; rights to liberty and security; police; military government; judicial system; illegal detention; freedom of expression
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that at least three more persons have been arrested in recent days apparently because of their work in relief efforts for the victims of Cyclone Nargis. The three are the chairman and members of the Human Rights Defenders and Promoters group. Meanwhile, a famous comedian and a magazine editor also taken away in June have now had serious charges laid against them.

CASE DETAILS:

According to information that the AHRC has received from the Yoma 3 news group (Thailand) and a number of other sources, a team of police and administration officers came to the house of U Myint Aye, the chairman of the Human Rights Defenders and Promoters (HRDP) group at around 4pm on 8 August 2008 and after searching the house for over two hours and taking some documents and other items they told Myint Aye to go with them for a short while. However, Myint Aye did come back that night.

The next afternoon, another team came to the house and asked for some sets of clothes for Myint Aye, indicating that he will be detained for some time. They told his family not to worry and to ask for any help if they need it; however, as in other cases like this they did not give any details about where they had taken Myint Aye or why. His family and colleagues believe that his arrest is somehow connected to the cyclone relief work that he and his group were doing after Nargis hit the country in May, and documents relating to that work were among those taken from the house during the search.

Myint Aye's arrest followed that of another two members of the HRDP group. Myo Min, who lives nearby, was taken on August 6 and Ko Thant Zaw Myint was taken on August 7. At this stage the AHRC does not have full details on the circumstances of their arrests or whereabouts.

The arrests coincided with the visit to the country of the new United Nations special expert on human rights in Burma.

UPDATE OF PREVIOUS APPEAL

The AHRC had previously reported on the arrest of prominent comedian Zarganar for his Cyclone Nargis relief work and outspokenness on the need for a greater recovery effort (AHRC-UAC-126-2008; see also related article at UPI Asia Online). Zarganar and another person who was similarly detained around the same time, Ko Zaw Thet Htwe, the former editor of a sports magazine, have both now reportedly been charged with serious criminal offences. According to their lawyer, so far he has learned that his clients are being charged with upsetting the public tranquility, outraging religious feelings, having contact with illegal associations, having illegal videos and some electronic communications offences. A further two persons are also reportedly included on the charge sheets.

The AHRC is following this and other cases arising from Cyclone Nargis closely and will provide further details as they come to hand.   

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The AHRC has on numerous previous occasions reported on harassment of the members of HRDP, including the arrest of at least 19 of its members during last September's protests (AHRC-OL-035-2007); an assault on U Myint Aye in March (AHRC-UAC-062-2008); the life imprisonment of Ko Thiha also in March (AHRC-UAC-052-2008); the assault, arrest and imprisonment of "The Henzada 6", and the imprisonment of Ko Min Min (UP-108-2007). A number of these cases are discussed in detail, together with further explanatory content, in the December 2007 edition of the Asian Legal Resource Centre's periodical, article 2.

Zarganar too was 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 U Myint Aye and other persons arrested over their relief efforts of Cyclone Nargis victims 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 Special Representative on human rights defenders, the UN Working Group on arbitrary detention and the regional human rights office for Southeast Asia, calling for interventions into this case.

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ___________,

MYANMAR: Chairman and members of human rights group arrested and detained without charge

Details of victim: U Myint Aye, 57, resident of Makyidaung, East Ward, Kyimyindaing Township, Yangon, chairman of the Human Rights Defenders and Promoters group
Some officials involved:
1. Police Captain Kyaw Sein, Yangon Division Police (intelligence)
2. Myat Linn, Police Chief, Kyimyindaing Township Police, Yangon
3. Unidentified Special Branch personnel
4. Chairman, Makyidaung Ward Peace and Development Council, Kyimyindaing
5. Member, Ohboe Ward Peace and Development Council, Kyimyindaing
Date and place of incident: Residence of U Myint Aye, 8 August 2008, around 4-6:30pm

I am writing to express my concern over the detaining of a human rights defender, U Myint Aye, and at least another person in his group, apparently in connection with their relief efforts for victims of the recent Cyclone Nargis.

According to information that I have received, a team of about 12 police and civilian officials led by Police Captain U Kyaw Soe and the township police chief entered the house U Myint Aye at around 4pm on 8 August 2008 and after searching the premises for around two and a half hours and taking some documents and other items they told Myint Aye to go with them for a short while.

However, Myint Aye did come back and instead the next afternoon, another team of around six persons led by the township station police chief came to the house again at around 4pm and asked for some sets of clothes for Myint Aye. They told his family not to worry and to ask for any help if they need it; however, as in other cases like this they did not give any details about where they had taken Myint Aye or why.

Myint Aye's family and colleagues have expressed their fears that his arrest is somehow connected to the cyclone relief work that he and his group were doing after Nargis hit the country in May, as documents relating to that work were among those taken from the house during the search. They fear that some serious charges will be framed against him and two other members of his group, Ko Myo Min and Ko Thant Zaw Myint, who were reportedly arrested on August 6 and 7. 

Their fears are justified. I note with special concern that at least four other persons who were involved in cyclone relief work, namely prominent comedian Zarganar (a.k.a. Ko Thura), former editor Ko Zaw Thet Htwe, Ko Thant Zin Aung and another young man, are being charged with a range of very serious offences including upsetting the public tranquility and outraging religious feelings (Penal Code sections 505[b] and 295A), having contact with illegal associations (Unlawful Associations Act, section 17(1)), having illegal videos and some electronic communications offences.

I am extremely disturbed to hear of the continued arrest and charge-sheeting of persons whose "crime" was to work for the betterment of their fellow citizens at a time of great need, not to mention the fact that these people have not at the time of arrest been told where they are being taken or why, nor given access to their families and lawyers until interrogations have been completed with a view to lodging these fabricated cases.

I am particularly shocked to note that these particular arrests coincided with the visit of the new United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, speaking to the government's very deep lack of integrity and commitment to fundamental human rights and the good of its citizens. 

I therefore call for the immediate release of U Myint Aye and all other persons detained in connection with Cyclone Nargis, for the dropping of charges against any against whom cases have already been commenced, and for the return of their possessions. I also take this opportunity to call for the release of imprisonment of all members of the Human Rights Defenders and Promoters group, including Ko Thiha, 34, convicted of sedition (Penal Code section 124A) and upsetting public tranquility, sn. 505(b), sentenced to 22 years in prison; Ko Myint Naing, 40, Ko Kyaw Lwin, 40, U Hla Shein, 62, U Mya Sein, 50, U Win, 50, and U Myint, 59, all residents of Henzada Township sentenced to four to eight years for upsetting public tranquility (Penal Code section 505(b)(c)) and Ko Min Min, 30, residing in Pyi Township, sentenced to three years' imprisonment for illegal tuition.

Finally, I take this opportunity to remind the Government of Myanmar of the need to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross access to places of detention and not least of all, access to those persons and forcibly disrobed monks and nuns who have been held in violation of criminal procedure and without charge or trial since the events of last September.

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: +951 549 663 / 549 208

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-183-2008
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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.