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BURMA: Municipal officers and firefighters beat man to death then police charge his friends

March 20, 2006

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

20 March 2006

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UA-097-2006: BURMA: Municipal officers and firefighters beat man to death then police charge his friends

BURMA: Assault; torture; extrajudicial killing; impunity; un-rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned by reports that officials in Rangoon, Burma beat a young man to death after which the police arrested two of his friends, who were also beaten, and have charged them with assault. Ko Thet Naing Oo and his two friends were reportedly beaten by municipal officers and fire-fighters after a quarrel in a market on March 17. Thet Naing Oo died in hospital on March 18. His two friends, Ko Win Myint and Ko Khin Maung Zaw are known to have been taken into custody and face charges of physically obstructing government officials from carrying out their duties. Their families and friends complain that they have been denied access to them. Meanwhile, the mother of the dead man has complained that so far she has been unable to lodge a complaint about his death.
 
According to the information available so far, at around 8pm on 17 March 2006 40-year-old Ko Thet Naing Oo was at a teashop in Thirimingalar Market with his two friends, when he said he would go to urinate. At that time he quarrelled with municipal officers who were taking responsibility for market security, who accused him of breaking the market's regulations and hit him. After that Thet Naing Oo was infuriated, so he came home to get a weapon, and went back to confront his assailants. When the municipal officers saw him, they yelled that he was a thief, and then a pickpocket, until more officers and fire brigade members came and set upon him together. In Burma the fire brigade is used as an auxiliary security force.

According to eyewitnesses, the group beat Thet Naing Oo until he was on the ground and already half dead. Ko Win Myint and Ko Khin Maung Zaw also were beaten, but not severely. After the assault, the alleged perpetrators called a trishaw and loaded Thet Naing Oo on to it face down and handcuffed. Still they allegedly kept assaulting him while he was unconscious and restrained on the trishaw.

Thet Naing Oo did not regain consciousness and reportedly died in hospital on Saturday, March 18, at 11:40am. He was due to be cremated today, Monday, March 20.

Thet Naing Oo earlier spent ten years in jail for political activism. He was released from Tharawaddy Prison in 2003.

Daw Sein Yi, the victim's mother, has lodged a complaint with the Kyimyintaing Township Police Station and been given an appointment to come for an interview, but has been told nothing by the officers there. She has stated that she wants justice and to have every person involved in the assault charged with homicide.

However, in the meantime eyewitnesses and alleged assault victims Ko Win Myint and Ko Khin Maung Zaw have themselves reportedly been charged with assaulting the municipal and fire brigade officers and preventing them from carrying out of their official duties. According to the limited information available so far, they have been transferred from Kyimyintaing to Dagon police lockup, and are also due to be brought before the court today, March 20. The families of the two men have reportedly been denied access to them.

The AHRC is attempting to get further details on this case as they come to hand. Meanwhile, a number of radio stations that have contacted to the Kyimyintaing and Dagon police stations, including the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), BBC and VOA, have been consistently told by officers stationed at them that they know nothing about the case.


BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

The AHRC has in recent times reported on a growing number of cases of police officers and/or local government officials in Burma seriously assaulting and sometimes killing local people over trivial incidents. The key feature in each of these cases also has been the inability of the victims or their families to complain, and the subsequent further legal action against the victim or victims to cover up the incident by the perpetrators. See for instance: UA-080-2006, UP-029-2006, UA-058-2006, UA-044-2006, UP-071-2005 and UA-111-2004. See further AS-015-2006.

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SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the Minister of Home Affairs calling for an immediate investigation into the alleged murderous assault and gross failures in criminal procedure as alleged by the family members of the deceased. Please demand that the complaint of the dead man's mother be fully recorded and investigated.

Regarding the two eyewitnesses, please demand their immediate release from detention and a full investigation also into the circumstances of their alleged assault and arrest.

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. 

Sample letter:

Dear Major General Maung Oo

MYANMAR: Alleged assault and homicide and flagrant breaches of criminal procedure by officers of the Kyimyintaing Township Police Station, Yangon Division

Name of victims:
1. Ko Thet Naing Oo, 40 years old, of Patin Road, Bawga Ward, Kyimyintaing Township, Yangon Division (deceased)
2. Ko Win Myint, 38 years old (under custody at Dagon Police Station, Yangon)
3. Ko Khin Maung Zaw, 21 years old (under custody at Dagon Police Station, Yangon)
Name of alleged perpetrators: A group of fire-fighters and municipal officers posted at the Thirimingalar Market in Kyimyintaing Township, Yangon Division
Date of incident: 18 March 2006
Place of incident: Thirimingalar Market, Kyimyintaing Township, Yangon Division

I am extremely disturbed by the news that a group of municipal officers and fire-fighters stationed at Thirimingalar Market in Kyimyintaing Towship, Yangon Division beat a young man to death on 17 March 2006, after which two eyewitnesses who were also assaulted were charged by officers of the Kyimyintaing Township Police Station with harming government officials in the course of their duty.

According to the information I have been given, at around 8pm on March 17, 40-year-old Ko Thet Naing Oo was at a teashop in Thirimingalar Market with two friends, after which he quarrelled with municipal officers taking responsibility for market security. After being assaulted, Thet Naing Oo came home to get a weapon and went back to confront his assailants. When the municipal officers saw him, they yelled that he was a thief, and then a pickpocket, until more officers and fire brigade members came and set upon him together. According to eyewitnesses, the group beat Thet Naing Oo until he was on the ground and already half dead. Ko Win Myint and Ko Khin Maung Zaw also were beaten, but not severely. After the assault, the alleged perpetrators called a trishaw and loaded Thet Naing Oo on to it face down and handcuffed. Still they allegedly kept assaulting him while he was unconscious and restrained on the trishaw.

Thet Naing Oo did not regain consciousness and reportedly died in hospital on Saturday, March 18, at 11:40am. Daw Sein Yi, his mother, has lodged a complaint with the Kyimyintaing Township Police Station, but has to date been given no further information.

In the meantime, eyewitnesses and alleged assault victims Ko Win Myint and Ko Khin Maung Zaw have themselves reportedly been charged with grievously assaulting the municipal and fire brigade officers in order to obstruct them from carrying out their duties, under section 333 of the Penal Code. They are known to be held at Dagon.

I call on you to order an immediate investigation into this alleged assault with a view to laying charges of homicide under section 302 of the Penal Code against the alleged perpetrators in the municipal authority and fire brigade. In this regard, I also draw your attention to section 46(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code, which states that under almost no circumstances may an arrest result in death, even when the accused resists, and section 50, which requires that minimum force is used.

I also call for the immediate withdrawal of charges against the two eyewitnesses, and their release from detention without delay. I urge that their statements of the incident be recorded in full and used in a court of law as evidence for the prosecution, both in the abovementioned homicide case and with reference to the alleged assaults on the two of them also.

All victims and their families must obtain full cooperation from the state authorities, including protection if necessary and compensation in the event that the accused are found guilty.

Sadly, this is just the latest in a series of reports coming from Myanmar of government officials assaulting ordinary people over trivial incidents or petty quarrels. What is evident from these reports is that even the lowest-ranking government officials in your country seem to enjoy absolute impunity to commit any type of offence against your citizens, without any prospects for complaint or redress. This situation makes a mockery of your government's aspiration to create a "discipline-flourishing" society. Instead, the world is seeing the opposite. Until such a time that your government takes seriously its responsibilities to investigate and punish state officers who perpetrate gross offences of this sort, your country will continue to be run by the "un-rule of law" to the detriment of everybody. I earnestly hope that in this case you will open the possibility to justice for the victim, his family and others concerned, and thereby set a better example for the future. 

Yours sincerely

____________________

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

Maj-Gen. Maung Oo
Minister for Home Affairs
Ministry of Home Affairs
Corner of Saya San Street and No 1 Industrial Street,
Yankin Township
Yangon
MYANMAR
Tel: +951 250 315 / 374 789
Fax: +951 549 663 / 549 208


PLEASE SEND COPIES TO:

1. Lt-Gen. Soe Win
Prime Minister
c/o Ministry of Defence
Signal Pagoda Road
Yangon
MYANMAR
Tel: + 95 1 372 681
Fax: + 95 1 652 624

2. U Aye Maung
Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
101 Pansodan Street
Kyauktada Township
Yangon
MYANMAR
Fax: + 95 1 371 028/ 282 449 / 282 990

3. Brigadier General Khin Yi
Director General
Myanmar Police Force
Saya San Road
Yankin Township
Yangon
MYANMAR
Tel: + 95 1 549 196/ 228/ 209

3. 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

4. Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro
Special Rapporteur on Myanmar
Attn: Ms. Audrey Ryan
Room 3-090
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: + 41 22 9179 281
Fax: + 41 22 9179 018 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR MYANMAR)
E-mail: aryan@ohchr.org

5. Professor Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Atten: Lydie Ventre
Room 3-016, c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9155
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS)
Email: lventre@ohchr.org

6. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
Attn: Mr.Safir Syed
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 9179016 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR TORTURE)
E-mail: ssyed@ohchr.org


Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-097-2006
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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.