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GENERAL APPEAL (Burma): Forty prisoners killed during and after cyclone by shooting and torture

May 5, 2008

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal General: AHRC-UAG-006-2008

6 May 2008
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BURMA: Forty prisoners killed during and after cyclone by shooting and torture

ISSUES: Extrajudicial killing; right to liberty and security; torture
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that prison guards at the central prison in Burma allegedly opened fire on prisoners on 2 May 2008 at the time that the recent cyclone hit the country, killing 36 and injuring around 70. Another four prisoners were also allegedly tortured to death afterwards and almost 100 have reportedly been isolated.

CASE DETAILS:

According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), Burma and other sources, many zinc roofs of Insein Prison were torn off and one area of the prison was demolished due to the strong storm wind when the tropical cyclone Nargis hit the country on 2 May 2008. Over 1,500 prisoners were forced to congregate inside prison hall no.1 and they were locked inside the hall until the next morning May 3.

While getting wet, cold and hungry, prisoners requested prison guards to move them to another place for safety but the authorities ignored their request. Some prisoners started shouting demands, and some set on fire to the prison hall, which burnt down the hall.

Thereafter, prison guards, soldiers and riot police were called in and opened fire at the prisoners in the area. Thirty-six prisoners were reportedly killed on the spot and around 70 were injured.

When the thick smoke from the fire set by some prisoners spread out to the cell blocks, authorities did not immediately transfer the detainees to an another place. They later allowed prisoners out of the cells but one prisoner was immediately taken to the prison hospital because he could not breathe properly.

Since the situation became under control, the prison authorities took away those it believed was responsible for the fire in the hall. Another 4 prisoners were reportedly tortured to death during their interrogation, although there are as yet no details of the incident. Around 98 prisoners were locked in a punishment cell block for the responsible for setting fire in the hall and food was not provided to any prisoners.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The AHRC is following events in Burma since the cyclone closely and with great concern. See further: AHRC-STM-121-2008 and AHRC-STM-118-2008.

The government has reportedly announced today that the constitutional referendum planned for May 10 will be postponed in the affected areas to May 24 but will go ahead in other parts of the country on the fixed date. At least one senior government official, U Aung Thaung, the Industry Minister, has reportedly continued campaigning for support of the constitution in upper Burma as if the cyclone never happened.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the persons listed below to call for thorough and impartial investigation into this case. 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 extrajudicial killing as well as the question of torture 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: At least 40 prisoners in Insein Jail allegedly killed in aftermath of cyclone

I am writing to voice my deep concern over reports that at least 40 prisoners may have been killed and many others injured in Insein Prison on 2-3 May 2008 in the aftermath of Cyclone Nagris.

According to the information I have received, over 1,500 prisoners were assembled in Hall No. 1 due to damage in one area of the prison caused by cyclone Nargis and kept locked inside the hall until the next morning. Getting wet, cold and hungry, prisoners requested to be moved to another place for safety but the authorities did not take any action. When the authorities ignored the prisoners' requests, some prisoners set on fire to the hall. In order to control this situation, prison guards, soldiers and riot police reportedly opened fire at the prisoners which resulted in death of 36 prisoners and injuries to 70.

I am shocked that while the prison authorities instead of alleviating the situation immediately searched out those responsible for setting fire to the hall and another four prisoners were allegedly tortured to death during interrogation, while around 98 more were locked in a punishment cell block where food was not provided to them.

In light of the above, I urge you to immediately investigate these reports and confirm whether the killings and other incidents in fact occurred as reported with a view to taking prompt legal action against all those involved and providing redress to the victims and their families. Furthermore, I call for the granting of immediate access to all detainees by the International Committee of the Red Cross, concerned United Nations agencies, lawyers and family members. The ICRC in particular has been locked out of its proper mandate to work with the Government of Myanmar on conditions in the prisons there and I urge that the government cooperate with it especially at this time as a matter of the highest urgency.

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

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal General
Document ID :
AHRC-UAG-006-2008
Countries :
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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.