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UPDATE (Burma): Innocent people blamed for killing of Thet Naing Oo; witnesses remain in police custody

March 28, 2006

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

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Update on Urgent Appeal

29 March 2006

[RE: UA-097-2006: BURMA: Municipal officers and firefighters beat man to death then police charge his friends]
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UP-060-2006: BURMA: Innocent people blamed for killing of Thet Naing Oo; witnesses remain in police custody

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

In the past week there has been further information coming through many channels on the murder of Ko Thet Naing Oo in a Rangoon market on March 17 by government officers (UA-097-2006). This update by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) covers the following: further details on the killing and funeral of Thet Naing Oo; legal action against innocent persons; and, an appeal from Thet Naing Oo’s mother.
 

FURTHER DETAILS ON THE KILLING AND FUNERAL OF THET NAING OO

As the AHRC reported last week (UA-097-2006; see also AHRC-PL-018-2006), on the night of 17 March 2006 40-year-old Ko Thet Naing Oo got into an argument with municipal officials who stopped him from urinating in a public place. Instead of just giving him a petty fine, they beat him, causing him to get angry and react. They called out that they had caught a thief and were joined by other municipal officers and fire fighters, who beat him savagely. Thet Naing Oo died in hospital the next morning.

According to subsequent information, at least two police officers patrolling the area were also allegedly involved in the assault. One, named Aung Myat Thu, is believed to have been hit Thet Naing Oo, while Tin Maung Ni reportedly pinned him down when he was already unconscious and bleeding profusely, by kneeling in his back. After that he handcuffed the victim and loaded him onto a trishaw and took him away. Tin Maung Ni later reportedly came back and warned bystanders not to say anything, adding that he would get a “promotion out of this”.

Photographs and video footage of Thet Naing Oo’s funeral show the brutality of the attack. It can be clearly seen that his skull was split wide open in at least two places: one fracture running across his head. The front of his face also has been seriously damaged, and it appears that his nose and cheeks may have been broken. According to accounts from the scene, the attackers used planks of hardwood to smash Thet Naing Oo to a pulp. They destroyed the evidence that night. 


LEGAL ACTION AGAINST INNOCENT PERSONS

On March 22 the "Capital City News" journal released by the city council mentioned the incident and said that according to the divisional police department the trouble had started because Thet Naing Oo was drunk and he insulted a municipal official. It reported that he had pulled a knife and the police and firemen had intervened to stop an altercation. When he resisted, some trishaw drivers "aware of their duty also intervened and assaulted Thet Naing Oo, it said. The report has been interpreted by persons involved in the case that the authorities intend to cover up the incident and protect the perpetrators by blaming others for the death. The Democratic Voice of Burma radio has reported that an unnamed staff person at the newspaper said that it was ordered to include the piece by Special Investigation Bureau police.

The Capital City News report noted that seven people had been taken into custody over the killing. Five are believed to be completely innocent persons, including three trishaw drivers who were sitting with their vehicles nearby at the time. The other two are Ko Win Myint and Ko Khin Maung Zaw, two friends of Thet Naing Oo who--as reported earlier--were assaulted together with him. They have been charged with causing grievous harm to government officers and obstructing them from carrying out of their official duties, and aiding and abetting a crime.

Since the incident, Win Myint and Khin Maung Zaw have been kept at the Dagon police station lockup. They could be sentenced to up to ten years in jail. Their families and lawyers have still not been able to visit them: they have only been permitted to receive food.

The AHRC is gravely concerned that this case will follow a pattern of counter-allegations and legal action seen in other cases involving complaints against state officers in Burma, whereby the police force witnesses to their crimes to instead testify against innocent people, after which they take legal action against people who have complained about their wrongdoing. In this case the most likely target for that legal action will be Thet Naing Oo's mother, Daw Sein Yi.


APPEAL FROM THET NAING OO’S MOTHER

Daw Sein Yi lodged a complaint with the Kyimyintaing Township Police Station immediately after the assault and before her son had died, leading to the arrest of the innocent bystanders. She has nonetheless been unrelenting in her outspokenness and determination for justice since her son was killed. In a telephone interview, she said that

"If there was really rule of law and things happened with my son like they said then they could have given a fine and a warning, and left it at that. They said that he was drunk and disorderly but it wasn’t so. He wasn’t drunk. And if he was unruly they could have easily arrested him...

"We want all international organisations to know [what has happened]. Next week we will again make a written request for the persons involved in this case to be immediately arrested, investigated and charged.”

______________________________

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the Minister of Home Affairs expressing your concern about the wrong direction in which this case is going and calling for an immediate proper investigation of all allegations by concerned parties, and the dropping of charges against the two eyewitnesses.

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: Concerns over improper investigation into murder of Ko Thet Naing Oo under Kyimyintaing and Dagon police stations, 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)
4. Five persons arrested in connection with the killing, including three trishaw drivers
Name of aleged perpetrators: A group of fire-fighters and municipal officers posted at the Thirimingalar Market in Kyimyintaing Township, Yangon Division, together with two patrolling police officers identified as Tin Maung Ni and Aung Myat Thu
Date of incident: 18 March 2006 and subsequently
Place of incident: Thirimingalar Market, Kyimyintaing Township, Yangon Division; Dagon Police Station

My distress at the news that Ko Thet Naing Oo was beaten to death by government officers at the Thirimingalar Market in Kyimyintaing Towship, Yangon on 17 March 2006 has been compounded by reports that the Myanmar police have moved quickly to cover up the crime and blame innocent people.

According to the latest information I have been given, Ko Thet Naing Oo got into an argument with municipal officials who instead of giving him a petty fine for urinating in the market beat him. At least two police officers patrolling the area were also allegedly involved in the assault, along with reserve fire fighters. One, named Aung Myat Thu, is believed to have been involved in the later stages of the assault while Tin Maung Ni reportedly pinned down Thet Naing Oo when he was already unconscious and bleeding profusely, by kneeling in his back. After that he handcuffed the victim and loaded him onto a trishaw and took him away. Tin Maung Ni later reportedly came back and warned bystanders not to say anything.

The police statements that Thet Naing Oo was drunk have been rejected by those who saw him at the time. Under any circumstances, it is clear that incredibly excessive force was used against him, in violation of 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.

Photographs and video footage of Thet Naing Oo’s funeral have been widely distributed. These show the brutality of the attack. It can be clearly seen that his skull was split wide open in at least two places: one fracture running across his head. The front of his face also has been seriously damaged. According to accounts from the scene, the attackers used planks of hardwood, which they destroyed that night.

From the scale of the injuries it is also hard to believe that some trishaw drivers could have been responsible for Thet Naing Oo's death. I am informed that three of these drivers and two other innocent bystanders have been taken into custody at the Dagon Police Station and will be charged in connection with the death. I urge you to see that they are released without delay and the investigation taken over by other parts of the police force, in order that it proceeds properly and effectively with a view to laying charges of charges of homicide under section 302 of the Penal Code against the legitimate perpetrators.

I am also gravely concerned that the two key witnesses to the assault, Ko Win Myint and Ko Khin Maung Zaw, who were also reportedly attacked, have been taken in to custody and charged with causing grievous harm to government officers and obstructing them from carrying out of their official duties, and aiding and abetting a crime (sections 311 and 114 of the Penal Code). It is extremely dubious that these two persons were taken into detention at the Dagon Police Station immediately after the crime, and have also been denied access to lawyers and their families, in violation of criminal procedure. Certainly this action by the police gives strong credence to allegations that they are covering up a crime committed by state officers. I urge you to ensure that these two men are released from detention without delay. At very least they must be given access to lawyers and relatives in accordance with the law.

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.

The scale of criminality in this case is astounding even by the standards of lawlessness for which your country is known internationally. The naked cruelty of the government agents involved in killing Thet Naing Oo is being compounded daily by wanton violations of the rights of innocent bystanders and others who have been implicated without any justification. These are violations not just by the standards of international law, but by your own domestic laws, including the Criminal Procedure Code.

Accordingly, I urge you to take direct and personal responsibility for this case and see that the litany of human rights abuses arising from the death of Thet Naing Oo is at last brought to an end. If you fail to act now, it will only serve to encourage repeat incidents in the future, which will further destabilise your society and undermine the claims of your administration to be able to bring discipline to Myanmar.

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 Update
Document ID :
UP-060-2006
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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.