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UPDATE (Burma): Human rights defender Ma Su Su Nwe jailed in Insein Prison

October 13, 2005

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

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME
Update on Urgent Appeal

14 October 2005

[RE: UA-112-2004: BURMA: Complaints against forced labour blocked and victims punished issued on 3 September 2004; UP-11-2005: BURMA: Four officials sentenced to prison for forced labour in Kawmhu Township, Yangon Division; UP-63-2005: BURMA: Local officials seek revenge against villager who obtained first successful forced labour prosecution; UP-68-2005: BURMA: Preliminary hearing against villager who obtained first successful forced labour prosecution completed; UP-73-2005: BURMA: Defamation case against villager continues]
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UP-117-2005: BURMA: Human rights defender Ma Su Su Nwe jailed in Insein Prison

BURMA: Forced labour; impunity; un-rule of law; threats to human rights defender
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***CORRECTION***

In the October 13 press release on this case issued yesterday (AHRC-PL-58-2005; BURMA: Human rights defender Ma Su Su Nwe jailed in "vicious" act of revenge), the third paragraph should have read as follows:

"As soon as the sentence was read out an elderly woman present in the court wailed and fainted..." (emphasis added on changed text)

We apologise for the error.
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is shocked to learn from the Yoma-3 News Service (Thailand) that on October 13, Ma Su Su Nwe, the villager who obtained the first successful conviction of forced labour against government officials (UP-11-2005), was found guilty of abusing government officers and sentenced to one and a half years in prison. She was immediately taken the notorious Insein Prison in the capital.

Ma Su Su Nwe has chronic heart disease. Apart from the fact that her jailing is a travesty of justice, in view of her illness, her imprisonment in Insein amounts to a life-threatening step by the authorities.

Please act on this case without delay. Contact your government and call for concerted pressure to be applied by the diplomatic community in Burma to have the case reviewed and Ma Su Su Nwe released on bail. Please also send a letter of protest, call or visit the Burmese mission in your country to demand that Ma Su Su Nwe be freed. Please also demand that there be no further pressure exerted on persons lodging complaints about forced labour in Burma. Finally, please also express your concerns to the relevant international organisations, including the International Labour Office.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION

The Yoma-3 News Service (Thailand) has been in contact with persons present at the Kawhmu Township Court for the judgment in the defamation trial of Ma Su Su Nwe, the Tanmanaing village member (Rangoon division) who earlier this year won a landmark case on forced labour, resulting in the conviction of four local government officials. The AHRC had earlier given the details of that case and updates on the progress of the defamation trial against Ma Su Su Nwe, which was initiated on spurious grounds by the new village tract head U Kyaw Lwin as an act of revenge. (For details see: UA-112-2004; UP-11-2005; UP-63-2005; UP-68-2005; and, UP-73-2005).

According to the information received from Yoma-3 and other sources, at about midday yesterday, October 13, Ma Su Su Nwe was convicted to one and a half years in prison for damaging the reputations of local officials through abusive language, and for criminal intimidation (sections 294B & 506 of the Penal Code). 

Immediately afterwards, she was taken away to Insein Prison.

Up to 300 supporters, including villagers and democracy campaigners, many of them from the capital Rangoon are said to have entered the court to hear the verdict. Security was tight as a large number of youths and onlookers gathered outside. It was estimated that around 200 police, Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) (a state-organised 'mass-movement'), local security officials and thugs were on hand since 9am.

The judge was Daw Htay Htay Win, who had given verdicts in all the related cases from the township. The lawyer representing Ma Su Su Nwe in court, Myint Thaung, was provided her by the National League for Democracy.

As Ma Su Su Nwe suffers from chronic heart disease, for which she takes medicine daily, there are also many fears about her health once in prison. In September she had alleged that a local nurse had declined to treat her after being intimidated by the authorities.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

The AHRC has earlier described how complainants of forced labour in Burma face various legal sanctions, including prison terms (see for instance: UP-50-2004, UP-51-2004, UP-55-2004 & UP-60-2004). It has also described some of the ways in which Ma Su Su Nwe and her supporters were harassed and threatened to give up the case, including with orders to demolish their houses (UP-73-2005). It appears that this latest action against a courageous ordinary villager is intended as a message to the society that complaints will not be tolerated (in this regard see also AS-38-2004).

Again we remind you that on June 4 the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which has a liaison office in Burma, said that:

"The Government [of Burma] should give clear assurances that no action would be taken against persons lodging complaints of forced labour, or their representatives, in order that the [ILO] Liaison Officer could fully continue to accept and channel such complaints to the competent authorities¡K" (emphasis added)

Under the circumstances, the jailing of Ma Su Su Nwe places the ILO and its mandate in Burma in a precarious situation. The ILO should be expected to act firmly and without delay on this case. If it is unable to have an effect, its purpose for working actively in the country, as it has done with some results in recent years, will be seriously compromised.

See also our recent Hunger Alert on Burma: HA-24-2005.


SUGGESTED ACTION:

As a first and urgent step in this case, we urge you without delay to contact your government by phone, email, fax or mail and call upon it to take up the case of Ma Su Su Nwe as one of special concern. Please request that your country's ambassador or other representatives in Burma lodge a strong formal protest with the government of Burma over her jailing. We also request you to contact the mission from Burma in your country or territory, where one exists, and submit letters of protest and take other actions in support of Ma Su Su Nwe.

Please also write directly to the Attorney General and other officials about this case. A suggested letter follows. Please note that for the purposes of these letters, the country should be referred to by its official title of Myanmar, rather than Burma; and the capital as Yangon, rather than Rangoon.

Sample letter:

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Dear Director General,

RE: MA SU SU NWE JAILED BY THE KAWHMU TOWNSHIP COURT

I am outraged to learn that Ma Su Su Nwe, the villager who on January 31 obtained the first successful conviction against government officials for forced labour in Myanmar--in accordance with section 374 of the Penal Code and Order 1/99 and its Supplementary Order--has been sentenced to one and a half years in jail by the Kawhmu Township Court.

According to the information I have received, on October 13, 2005, the court (Daw Htay Htay Win presiding) found Ma Su Su Nwe guilty of threatening and abusing the new village tract head, U Kyaw Lwin, under sections 294B & 506 of the Penal Code. She was immediately sent to Insein Prison, despite the fact that the complaint appeared to be groundless and brought only in order to exact revenge.

I am also informed that Ma Su Su Nwe suffers from a chronic heart ailment which if left untreated could worsen. Under the circumstances, Insein prison hardly seems to be the most suitable location.

I call upon you to open a review into the case and take the necessary steps to see that Ma Su Su Nwe is released from detention immediately and until such a time as the manner can be fully resolved.

Finally, I urge you to see to it that in this case and others the law in Myanmar is not used as a weapon to unjustly attack innocent persons who challenge the wrongdoing of government officials, as has already been requested of you by the International Labour Organisation. In particular, I urge you to review the statutes pertaining to abuse of government officials and criminal defamation so that these are removed from the law and spurious legal actions by government officials are denied.

Yours sincerely

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

Dr Tun Shin
Director General
Office of the Attorney General
101 Pansodan Street
Kyauktada Township
Yangon
MYANMAR
Fax: + 95 1 371 028 / 282 990 / 282 449


PLEASE SEND COPIES TO:

1. Lt General 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. Maj-Gen Maung Oo
Chairman
Myanmar Human Rights Committee
c/o Ministry of Home Affairs
Corner of Saya San Street and No 1 Industrial Street,
Yankin Township
Yangon
MYANMAR
Fax: +95 1 549 663 / 549 208

3. Mr Richard Horsey
Liaison Officer (Myanmar)
International Labour Organization (ILO)
4, route des Morillons
CH-1211 Geneva 22
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 798 8685
E-mail: horsey@ilo.org

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

5. Mr. Leandro Despouy
Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers
Att: Sonia Cronin
Room: 3-060
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9160
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (Attn: Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges & lawyers)
E-mail: scronin@ohchr.org

6. Ms. Hina Jilani
Special Representative of the Secretary General for human rights defenders
Att: Ben Majekodunmi or Ms. Chloe Marnay-Baszanger
Room 1-040, c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 93 88
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (Attn: Special Representative for human rights defenders)
E-mail: bmajekodunmi@ohchr.org; cmarnay-baszanger@ohchr.org

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) 

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-117-2005
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.