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UPDATE (Burma): Appeal again thrown out of one court; another ridiculous day in another

March 24, 2006

UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Update on Urgent Appeal

24 March 2006

[RE: UA-071-2006: BURMA: Two villagers jailed for reporting extortion & UA-050-2006: BURMA: More human rights defenders face jail terms; no justice or compensation for forced labour death]
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UP-054-2006: BURMA: Appeal again thrown out of one court; another ridiculous day in another

BURMA: Extortion; arbitrary detention; impunity; forced labour; coercion; attacks on human rights defenders; un-rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Yoma 3 news service (Thailand) that the appeal of two villagers in the Irrawaddy Delta region of Burma against being jailed after reporting the corruption of local authorities was thrown out of court. Meanwhile, the trial of a number of persons who helped lodge a complaint of forced labour with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has again been postponed.

Please refer to the original appeals for sample letters and addresses.


Case of U Aye Min and U Win Nyunt (UA-071-2006)

As reported in our previous appeal, U Aye Min and U Win Nyunt were sentenced to two years in prison each on 2 December 2005 after informing the township authorities that their village council in Bogalay Township, Irrawaddy Division (delta region), had been illegally taking the money for on the pretence of managing an agricultural loan programme. Although the township authorities ordered the village council to stop doing this, the higher up district council later ordered that the two men be arrested for giving "false information". The first appeal of the men against the decision was also struck down by the district court.

According to the information the AHRC has now received, on 8 March 2006 the case came before the Irrawaddy Division Court in Pathein. However, in a familiar pattern, the case was summarily dismissed by Assistant Judge U Kat Za Khote. The men's lawyer has indicated that an appeal will be made to the Supreme Court. 

Case of U Thein Zan, Ko Zaw Htay & U Aung Than Htun (UA-050-2006)

U Thein Zan, Ko Zaw Htay and U Aung Than Htun are facing charges under section 182 of the Penal Code for giving false information to a public servant because they helped the family of a man killed while doing forced labour to lodge a complaint with the International Labour Organisation representative in Rangoon. The case is going on in the Aunglan Township Court, Magwe Division (central Burma). The defendants petitioned a higher court that the case is illegal as the complainant is the district police commander, Sein Win, when according to law it should be staff of the Ministry of Labour. The petition was rejected.

The case has been constantly postponed, usually because the district police commander has not come to the court, and for procedural reasons. The defendants have tried without success to have the case stopped because the complainant has failed to come to the court.

On March 22 the district police chief was represented in court by the township police chief. The defendants argued that this too is a violation of the law, because it must be the party to the case--not a representative--present before the court. Nonetheless, Judge Daw Khin Khin Swe ignored their argument and allowed the complainant to be represented by the township police chief.

The hearings were then again postponed, to April 20.


ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

As noted previously, these cases are indicative of how when ordinary citizens in Burma attempt to make a complaint on virtually any grounds against government officials they are themselves made targets. After a complaint made against officials is struck down, a counter-complaint is lodged and the original complainants are punished, and made an example to others. They are also indicative of the tendency of courts at all levels in Burma to summarily throw out cases of this nature. These patterns are found in cases across the entire country, speaking to the management of the administrative and judicial system in Burma for persecution of victims, rather than redress of wrongs committed, even in ordinary criminal cases.

Other cases following the same pattern include those of

Ma Aye Aye Aung & Ko Tint Zaw, Meikhtila Township, Mandalay Division: UA-80-2006
U Aung Pe, Twente Township, Rangoon Division: UP-030-2006; AHRC-PL-012-2006  
Ma Su Su Nwe, Kawmhu Township, Rangoon Division: UP-017-2006; www.ahrchk.net/susunwe

The pattern of prosecution of complainants has been confirmed as government policy by the Minister of Labour. According to the latest report of the ILO representative in Rangoon

"As regards the question of prosecutions, the Minister strongly insisted that the situation in Myanmar was different from that of other countries in view of the fact that political forces were taking full advantage of issues such as forced labour to politicize the situation and tarnish the reputation of the Myanmar authorities. This is why the authorities were determined to use the relevant provisions of the Penal Code to deter such political manipulation." (GB.295/7, March 2006)

As a result of this position, the ILO is no longer able to advise and support victims of forced labour to make complaints, because the inevitable consequence will be that the complaint is deemed "false" through a fraudulent judicial process and the victims then punished.

The AHRC is obtaining details of further cases following this pattern and will issue appeals on these in due course.


Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-054-2006
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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.