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BURMA: Police inaction on rape and murder of schoolgirl

October 8, 2008

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-224-2008

9 October 2008
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BURMA: Police inaction on rape and murder of schoolgirl

ISSUES: Rule of law; rights to liberty and security; military government; judicial system; rape; murder; violence against women
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NEW PUBLICATION
SAFFRON REVOLUTION IMPRISONED, LAW DEMENTED
www.article2.org

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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has followed with concern reports that a group of soldiers raped and killed a teenage schoolgirl in the north of Burma. It has since obtained detailed information on the case and learned that although it was reported to the police so far no action has been taken to prosecute the accused and instead the family of the victim has been silenced.

CASE DETAILS

As was widely reported in August, on 27 July 2008 a group of soldiers stationed in the north of Burma near the border with China allegedly raped and killed 15-year-old schoolgirl Nhkum Hkawn Din as she was walking about a mile away from her village, taking food for her brother who was working in farmlands.

According to relatives, Hkawn Din had not come back by evening time but as it was her birthday they had thought that she had gone to meet friends and attend church. The next day they learned that she had not met her brother and they searcher for her but couldn't find her. Finally, her naked body was recovered on July 30 in bushes not far from an illegal army checkpoint used for allowing cross-border trade in motorcycles, which is between the village and the area of fields where Hkawn Din's brother was working. She had multiple stab wounds to her neck, shoulder, chest, abdomen and vagina, and with a mutilated face and head injuries.

The village headman immediately referred the case to the police and the body was sent for an autopsy, and it was found that two or three people had raped and killed her. However, instead of taking action the police reportedly claimed that there was insufficient evidence to identify the accused. This is even though there was ample material and eyewitness evidence.

According to sources, one eyewitness passed by Hkawn Din on her way to the fields and about five minutes after saw two soldiers going the same way, not in full uniform, one with a gun and the other with a bayonet, and both of them from the local army post. Another witness staying nearby the illegal checkpoint said that two soldiers had been in the vicinity on the morning of July 27 and seemed to be looking around for something. A third witness said that around midday two soldiers had passed him by in the paddy fields nearby the checkpoint. One had a gun and was wet and the other was stumbling. He assumed that they were in a rush hunting for someone bringing motorcycles illegally.

After the battalion commander heard about the case, he reportedly ordered all the soldiers in the village (around five) be dispatched to other locations. Then, under intense local pressure on August 14 the army detained one of the three accused soldiers and transferred him into police custody, although it sent two other soldiers rather than police to stay on guard at the watch house. But according to reports, on August 17 a group of army and police officers and township officials came to visit the family and offered them a sack of milled rice, some sugar, cooking oil and condensed milk and half-a-million Kyat (about USD 420) to settle the matter. Since then there has been no further progress in the case. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

It is widely recognised that soldiers, police and government officials in Burma enjoy impunity for criminal acts, including rape and murder, due both to their official positions and capacity to intimidate complainants. See for instance some of the cases documented by the AHRC: UA-224-2007; UP-094-2007; UA-096-2007; UA-222-2006; UA-198-2006.

See also the comprehensive reports "Burma, political psychosis and legal dementia" and "Saffron Revolution imprisoned, law demented" issued by the AHRC’s sister organisation, as well as the 2007 AHRC Human Rights Report chapter on Burma.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the persons listed below to call for a proper investigation of the alleged rapists and killers of Hkawn Din. 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 Rapporteurs on Myanmar and violence against women, and the regional human rights office for Southeast Asia, calling for interventions into this case.

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ___________,

MYANMAR: No action against alleged rapists and killers of 15-year-old girl

Details of victim: Nhkum Hkawn Din, 15, eighth standard student at Chyan Kyin Basic Education Middle School, Momauk, daughter of Salang Nhkum Yawng Shawng (father) and Maran Nu Bren (mother), residing in Section No. 1, Namsai Village, Momauk Township, Bhamo District, Kachin State, Myanmar
Alleged perpetrators:
1. Private Soe Tu Win, Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 437; company commander, Sgt. Thet Htun, battalion commander, Major Aung Myint Htun, stationed in Momauk
2. Trainee Tu Ra, LIB 437, commanders as above
3. Corporal Aye Thein, LIB 437, commanders as above
Date of event: 27 July 2008

I am shocked to hear that although two to three soldiers stationed in upper Myanmar have been accused of having raped, mutilated and killed a 15-year-old girl have not yet been charged with any offence and instead the family has been forced to accept a paltry pay-off. 

According to the information that I have received, around 9:30-10:30am on 27 July 2008 a group of soldiers stationed in Nam Sai of Momauk Township allegedly raped and killed Nhkum Hkawn Din as she was walking about a mile away from her village, taking food for her brother who was working in farmlands. Although she did not come back by that evening, as it was her birthday her family thought that she had gone to meet friends and attend church. The next day they realised that something had happened but couldn't locate her. Finally, her naked body was recovered on July 30 in bushes around 200 feet away from an illegally-manned army checkpoint used for allowing cross-border trade in motorcycles, which is between the village and the area of fields where Hkawn Din's brother was working. She had multiple stab wounds to her neck, shoulder, chest, abdomen and vagina, and with a mutilated face and head injuries.

The village headman immediately referred the case to the Momauk Township Police and the body was sent for an autopsy at the Momauk Township Hospital, where it was found that two or three people had raped and killed her. However, instead of taking action the police reportedly claimed that there was insufficient evidence to identify the accused. This is even though there was ample material and also a number of eyewitnesses, including one who passed by Hkawn Din on her way to the fields and about five minutes after saw two soldiers going the same way, not in full uniform, one with a gun and the other with a bayonet, both of them subordinates of Sgt. Thet Htun. Another witness staying nearby the illegal checkpoint said that two soldiers had been in the vicinity on the morning of July 27 and seemed to be looking around for something. A third witness said that around midday two soldiers had passed him by in the paddy fields nearby the checkpoint, one wet and carrying a gun and the other was stumbling.

I am informed that after the LIB 437 commander heard about the case he ordered the soldiers in the village (around five) to be dispatched to other locations. On August 14 the army detained one of the three accused and transferred him into police custody, although it sent two other soldiers rather than police to stay on guard at the watch house. But according what I have been told, on August 17 a group of army and police officers and township officials came to visit the family and offered them a sack of milled rice, some sugar, cooking oil and condensed milk and half-a-million Kyat (about USD 420) to settle the matter. Since then there has been no further progress in the case.

It is extremely disappointing to learn that this case has not proceeded to criminal trial and court apparently for the sole reason that the alleged perpetrators are soldiers. I call upon the Minister of Home Affairs and the chief of the Myanmar Police Force in particular to rectify this unfortunate state of affairs by ordering a high-level special investigation team to be sent to the township and get to the bottom of the case, not in order that some further trifling payout be given to the family of the victim, but in order that the perpetrators be arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the law. The police force and army must also conduct internal inquiries to identify and demote those officers who failed to perform their duties as expected and apparently sought to cover up the offence. 

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-224-2008
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.