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UPDATE (Burma): Three persons jailed after September 2007 protests given further sentences

March 6, 2009

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Update: AHRC-UAU-006-2009

6 March 2009

[RE: AHRC-UAC-200-2008: BURMA: A man charged for having contact with overseas radio station; AHRC-UAC-223-2008: A man charged without evidence for sending news abroad]
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BURMA: Three persons jailed after September 2007 protests given further sentences

ISSUES: Rule of law; rights to liberty and security; military government; judicial system; illegal detention; freedom of expression
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SPECIAL REPORT
SAFFRON REVOLUTION IMPRISONED, LAW DEMENTED
www.article2.org 

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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that three persons who were illegally arrested and detained after the September 2007 protests in Burma, including two on whom we have issued appeals already, have again had time added to their jail terms. The additional case lodged against the three under a new electronic communications law is without basis as the three never had any contact or relationship with one another.

CASE DETAILS

As we reported previously, both Win Maw (AHRC-UAC-200-2008) and Zaw Min (AHRC-UAC-223-2008) were given jail terms for supposedly sending "false" news abroad during the September 2007 monk-led mass protests against military dictatorship in Burma.

Yesterday, 5 March 2009 the two men together with another man, Aung Zaw Oo, a member of the Human Rights Defenders and Promoters group that the authorities in Burma have systematically targetted, were again sentenced in a closed hearing without legal counsel inside the central prison, this time under a new catch-anything electronic transactions law, and were sentenced to an additional 10 years each. Aung Zaw Oo had already been handed 11 years for a number of alleged offences.

The case against the three men is absurd because they had no relationship with one another upon which to launch a case on this basis.

After their sentencing last year the three had been kept in different prisons and were brought together for the purposes of the farcical trial yesterday.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The AHRC has been documenting cases of illegal arrest, detention and prosecution since the nationwide protests in Burma during September 2007 and a year after those events its sister organisation issued a special report, "Saffron Revolution imprisoned, law denied" (article 2, vol. 7, no. 3) detailing many of these cases. Since then, it has issued appeals on a number of other cases and made related statements at a time that a very large number of these cases were disposed of through the courts, including most recently 14 persons convicted over supposedly throwing rocks at security forces (AHRC-UAC-004-2009), and 13 persons convicted over allegedly being part of an illegal organization (AHRC-UAC-002-009), blogger Nay Phone Latt (AHRC-UAU-070-2008), monk U Gambira and ten others (AHRC-UAC-248-2008), political activist Daw Win Mya Mya and four others (AHRC-UAC-246-2008), Zaw Min, charged with sending news abroad (AHRC-UAC-223-2008) and the related case of comedian Zarganar (AHRC-UAU-061-2008).

The increase in penalties for some detainees like the three mentioned in this update follows reductions on appeal for some, including 28-year-old blogger Nay Phone Latt, whose sentence of 20-and-a-half years was shortened by eight-and-a-half years to 12 years.

Meanwhile, lawyers representing many of these persons have been prevented from doing their jobs, like the lawyer in this case, and have themselves been imprisoned, including two who have just been released after serving four months for contempt of court, U Aung Thein and U Khin Maung Shein, whose case the AHRC has highlighted in a new campaign page: http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/burma-lawyers/

Many members of the Human Rights Defenders and Promoters group have been targetted and imprisoned over the September 2007 protests and other things as well, including its chairman, U Myint Aye, who has been accused of terrorism: AHRC-UAC-183-2008; see also UPI Asia Online.

For links and other material on the protests in Burma of August and September 2007 see: http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/burmaprotests/ 

See also the comprehensive report on Burma: "Burma, political psychosis and legal dementia" issued by the AHRC’s sister organisation and the 2008 AHRC Human Rights Report chapter on Burma.

______________________________

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the persons listed below to call for the groundless legal actions against Win Maw, Zaw Min and Aung Zaw Oo to be dropped. Please note that for the purpose of the letter, the country should be referred to by its official title of Myanmar, rather than Burma, and Rangoon, Yangon.

Please be informed that the AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteurs on Myanmar and independence of judges and lawyers as well as 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: Three men who had no prior relationship again sentenced over 2007

Details of accused:
1. Win Maw (a.k.a. Maw Kyi), 46, inmate at Taungoo Prison, resident of Kyundaw Ward, Sanchaung Township, Yangon, previously convicted under section 505(b) of the Penal Code with upsetting public tranquility
2. Zaw Min (a.k.a. Paung Paung), 39, inmate at Bago Prison, resident of Payakone Village, Thanlyin Township, Yangon Division, previously convicted under section 505(b) of the Penal Code with upsetting public tranquility
3. Aung Zaw Oo, 30, inmate at Insein Central Prison, resident of Kadawkale, Mingalar-taungnyunt Township, Yangon Division, member of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters, previously convicted under section 13(1), Immigration Law (Emergency Provisions, Temporary) 1947; section 17(1), Unlawful Association Act 1908; section 505(b) of the Penal Code with upsetting public tranquility
Primary officer involved: Police Major Ye Nyunt, No. La/58188, Special Branch
Additional charge & trial: Tried under section 33(a) of the Electronic Transactions Act, 2004, in a closed session at the Insein Prison special court, 5 March 2009, sentenced to an additional 10 years' imprisonment each

I am shocked to hear that the legal system in Myanmar, which already suffers from one of the worst reputations in the world, has again sunk to a new low by throwing together three men who had no relationship with one another for the purpose of imprisoning them for a decade on top of the sentences that they had already received.

According to the information that has been brought to my attention, the three whose names and details are given above, Win Maw, Zaw Min and Aung Zaw Oo had already been convicted for supposed offences at the time of the 2007 demonstrations in Myanmar, the first two for sending "false" news abroad and the last for a range of alleged crimes. However, apparently not satisfied with the sentences from last year, which came on top of the extended periods of illegal and arbitrary imprisonment that the three had already suffered, the authorities brought the three of them together for the purposes of sentencing them to another term.

The choice of section 33(a) of the Electronic Transactions Law is perhaps appropriate, as only a section of law as vague and devoid of meaning as this could be applied to imprison three men who had no prior relationship with one another in an imaginary case:

"33. Whoever commits any of the following acts by using electronic transactions technology shall, on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend from a minimum of 7 years to a maximum of 15 years and may also be liable to a fine: (a) doing any act detrimental to the security of the State or prevalence of law and order or community peace and tranquillity or national solidarity or national economy or national culture."

Not only was it necessary to bring an empty case against the three men under an empty law, but it was also necessary to empty the court of lawyers and onlookers beforehand, which was not difficult as the so-called trial and sentencing, I am informed, took place inside the central prison itself, in violation of the Judiciary Law 2000, section 2(e).

In light of the patent absurdity of this case, I call for all concerned parties, including the Attorney General, to review it at once and see to it that these victims of gross injustice be released without any more delay. I also call for the cessation of other similarly frivolous, flawed and vengeful legal actions against persons in Myanmar associated with the 2007 protests and with the defence of human rights, including the members of the Human Rights Defenders and Promoters group.

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 (AHRC) (ua@ahrchk.org)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
AHRC-UAU-006-2009
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.