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UPDATE (Burma): First report of death in fuel protests; courts closed; monks to refuse donations from officials

September 9, 2007

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

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Update on Urgent Appeal

10 September 2007

[RE: UA-260-2007: BURMA: At least 65 persons reported arrested over protests against fuel prices; UP-114-2007: BURMA: Despite over 100 arrests, protests continue; still no action by UN; UP-119-2007: BURMA: Monks hold government officials as hostages; more protests and arrests around the country]
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UP-120-2007: BURMA: First report of death in fuel protests; courts closed; monks to refuse donations from officials

BURMA: Arbitrary arrest; torture; extrajudicial killing; denial of right to free expression; poverty; un-rule of law
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NEW WEBPAGE
BURMA: 2007 PROTESTS AGAINST FUEL PRICES
http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/burmaprotests/

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Dear friends,

This is the latest update by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on the protests against fuel price increases in Burma: a leader of the protests has reportedly been tortured to death; courts in Rangoon have been closed for more than two weeks; arrests have continued, particularly in the delta area; monks in Mandalay are planning to decline alms from the military and government officials to express their discontent at the handling of a recent protest by monks that turned violent.

Here we give a short summary of recent events. Please check the news media websites listed in the new webpage at http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/burmaprotests/ for the most recent information.

REPORTED DEATH IN CUSTODY DUE TO TORTURE
Kyaw Min Yu (a.k.a. Jimmy), a leader of the 88 Students Generation group, is reported to have been tortured to death in Insein Prison on September 8. However, there has not yet been any confirmation of his death by the authorities, despite requests for information from his family. The family has also sought help from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) office, but as the ICRC has been refused access to detention facilities, it has been unable to help. [See further, Burma's long and steady downward slide (UPI Asia Online).]

Jimmy was arrested on August 21 after a peaceful march against the fuel price hikes in Rangoon (see original appeal: UA-260-2007). He had been previously jailed for 15 years for his involvement in the 1988 protests.

Two other leaders, Kyaw Kyaw Htwe (aka Markee) and Min Zeya were also reportedly hospitalized due to severe torture in custody.

COURTS CLOSED IN RANGOON
The AHRC has received information that courts in Rangoon have been closed since August 20, and that persons who are being brought for preliminary hearings are being repeatedly sent back into remand without having their cases considered. The reason for the shutdown is said to be "security". It is not clear whether or not the courts have also stopped operating in other parts of the country. 

See further: AS-221-2007

ARRESTS IN THE DELTA
The delta region, Irrawaddy Division, has in recent days seen the most arrests of protestors outside of Rangoon. Here are some reports from different towns in that area.

In Bogalay, about 20 members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) have been arrested, including chairman Aung Khin Bo, secretary Khin Maung Chit, Khin Khin Lay, Mi Mi Sein, Thet Tun, Hla Myint, Min Thu, Nyein Tun, Than Myint and Kyin Than. Most of them were arrested after a protest that drew over a thousand people on September 5.

In Lapputta, more than 15 people were arrested on September 8, including Pauk Sa, Pyone Cho, Maung Kyaw, Poe Cho, Hla Soe, Than Win, Min Sin, Thet Tin Tun and Sein Than. The police arrested them by referring to pictures taken of the peaceful protests there on September 3; three protesters--Aung Moe Win, Kyi Thein and Htay Win--were arrested on the day of the protest. Four people were released after investigations: Ko Sein Than, U Min Sin, Ko Than Wina and Ko Thet Tin Htun.

In Bassein, the authorities arrested at least seven NLD members and alleged that they were planning a protest. Those arrested are: Aye Win, Daw Myint Sein (female), Aye Aye Khaing (female), Myo Lwin, Thet Lwin, Hla Than Kyaw and Hla Htay. Aye Win had been arrested on August 24 for staging a solo protest, and he has again been arrested.

In Wakhema, at least five NLD members were arrested, including chairman U Kyi Win, Secretary U Maung Kan and three others, while they were holding a discussion. According to another report, up to nine persons were arrested. This is despite the fact that there has not been any protest in the township. It is believed that he authorities were trying to preempt any actions there.

CIVILIANS ARRESTED FOR PAKOKKU PROTESTS
Some civilians were arrested by Special Branch Police in Pakokku Township, Magwe Division (lower Burma), where Buddhist monks staged protests on September 5 and took officials as hostages the day after. The arrestees are worker U Than Aung, lawyer U Nay La, and traders U Thant Shin and U Sein Lay. They were accused of contacting foreign media and providing information about the protests. (For more details on the Pakokku protests, please refer to our previous appeal: UP-119-2007)

MONKS TO REFUSE ALMS FROM OFFICIALS
The Mandalay Monks Union has reportedly called for a nationwide "turning of alms bowls" by Buddhist monks to protest at the violent attack on protesting clergy at Pakkoku and subsequent incidents there. The boycott against accepting alms would be extended to members of the government, the quasi-government Union Solidarity and Development Association, and the government-organised Swanar-shin gangs. 

Monks in Burma have historically turned their bowls as a form of protest against authorities with whom they wish to show displeasure.

A SECRET STATE OF EMERGENCY?
Another unconfirmed report has it that the Chief of Police, Brigadier General Khin Yi (an army officer), secretly declared a state of emergency as of midnight on September 6, in order to mobilise riot police and other special units for crackdown operations. The Police Riot Control Regiments Commander, Lt-Col. Than Han (another army officer), is in charge of controlling the protests. He reportedly signed a directive dated September 7, instructing the 16 regiments under his control to be ready for combating the protests. As noted in our original appeal, Lt-Col. Than Han (wrongly identified there as "colonel") is reported to have been the field commanding officer who led the murderous attack on a convoy of National League for Democracy members, led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, in 2003 (see report by the Asian Legal Resource Centre).

There has been no report of the state of emergency in the state media; however, after commenting little on the protests throughout August it has on September 7, 8 and 9 issued increasingly stern warnings about the consequences of continued protests.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
Since the protests broke out in Burma in mid-August, the response from the international community has remained very limited. We have urged the UN and the international community to do much more to act on the situation in Burma; however, no real intervention has taken place. Thus, if you are in a place with a representative government, please contact your local member of parliament, foreign minister or other concerned officials to ask them about what actions they have taken on the situation in Burma, and urge them to act at this critical moment.

Please refer to the sample letters of the previous appeals for templates of how to write to the UN or your local officials: UA-260-2007; UP-114-2007.

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-120-2007
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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.