New information
MMR 002 / 0315 / OBS
021.1
Sentence / Arbitrary detention
/
Judicial
harassment
Burma / Myanmar
April
24, 2015
The Observatory for the Protection
of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for
Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has
received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following
situation in Burma / Myanmar.
New
information:
The Observatory has been informed
by reliable sources of the arbitrary detention and sentencing of Mr. Thein
Aung Myint, member of the Movement for Democracy Current Force (MDCF). MDCF
is a community-based organisation that campaigns against land-grabbing and other
human rights violations. Thein Aung Myint is a human rights defender who has
been working to help communities to advocate for their rights, including land
rights. He is also a former political prisoner. He was detained in 1994, 2007,
2009, 2010, and 2012 for his peaceful protest activities.
According to the information
received, on April 23, 2015, a court in Mandalay's Aung Myay Thar San Township
sentenced Mr. Thein Aung Myint to six months in prison under Article 18 of the
Act on the Right to Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession for participating
in a peaceful protest on October 27, 2014, in Mandalay. The protest called for
an investigation into the October 4, 2014, extrajudicial killing of journalist
Aung Kyaw Naing, aka Par Gyi.
Although Mr. Thein Aung Myint had
applied for permission from township authorities to hold the protest,
authorities refused to grant it. In addition,
Mr. Thein Aung Myint was not
present when the protest began, since it started while he was speaking with
local authorities, who had called to inform him that they had rejected his
protest application. He arrived at the site when the protest was close to its
end.
Although about 200 people took
part in the October 27 demonstration, Mr. Thein Aung Myint was the only person
charged and held responsible as he initially filed the application for the
protest. His colleague Mr. Aye Thein testified to the court that he [Aye
Thein] had led the protest and offered to present photos of himself holding a
bullhorn and leading protest chants.
Mr. Thein Aung Myint had already
been sentenced on March 23, 2015, to six months in prison on the same legal
grounds for leading a peaceful protest on March 27, 2014, against electricity
price hikes (see background information). He is currently detained in Mandalay's
Oh Bo Prison.
The Observatory condemns the
arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Mr. Thein Aung Myint, which
merely aim at sanctioning his peaceful human rights activities, and calls for
his immediate and unconditional release.
The Observatory is further
concerned about MDCF members being the targets of frequent judicial harassments
and arbitrary imprisonments.
Background
information:
On March 23, 2015, a court in
Mandalay's Chan Aye Thar Zan Township sentenced MDCF members Messrs. Thein Aung
Myint and Saw Hla Aung to six months in prison under Article 18 of the
Act on the Right to Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession for leading a
peaceful protest against electricity price hikes on March 27, 2014.
The court also sentenced two other
people, Mr. Kyaw Myo Htun and Ms. Khet Khet Tin, to six months
under the same law in connection with the March 27 protests, even though they
were not involved in the demonstration. Mr. Kyaw Myo Htun only observed and
applauded the protesters, while Ms. Khet Khet Tin, who is Mr. Thein Aung Myint's
wife, was shopping in the area at the time the protest took place. When she saw
that authorities were arresting her husband, she asked them not to use excessive
force in the process. The four are currently detained in Mandalay's Oh Bo
Prison. Ms. Khet Khet Tin will appeal the sentence.
Mr. Thein Aung Myint had applied
for permission from township authorities to hold the March 27 protest. However,
authorities refused to grant permission on the grounds that Thein Aung Myint was
not a resident of that township. About 100 people took part in the
demonstration.
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities of
Burma, urging them to:
i.
Guarantee in all circumstances the
physical and psychological integrity of Messrs. Thein Aung Myint, Saw Hla Aung
and Kyaw Myo Htun and Ms. Khet Khet Tin, as well as of all human rights
defenders in Burma;
ii.
Release Messrs. Thein Aung Myint,
Saw Hla Aung and Kyaw Myo Htun and Ms. Khet Khet Tin immediately and
unconditionally as their detention is arbitrary and seems aimed at sanctioning
their human rights activities;
iii.
Put
an end to acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against them as
well as against all human rights defenders in Burma;
iv.
Comply with all the provisions of
the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, in particular with
its:
-
Article 1, which stipulates that
"everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote
and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental
freedoms at the national and international levels";
-
Article 6(a), which states that
"everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to
participate in peaceful activities against violations of human rights and
fundamental freedoms";
-
Article 12.2, which provides that
"the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the
competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others,
against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure
adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a
consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the
present Declaration";
v.
More generally, ensure in all
circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in
accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and ratify
international and regional human rights instruments.
Addresses:
·
U
Thein Sein, President of Myanmar, President Office, Office No.18, Naypyitaw,
MYANMAR; Fax: + 95 1 652 624
·
Lt
Gen Ko Ko, Minister for Home Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Office No. 10,
Naypyitaw, MYANMAR; Fax: +95 67 412 439
·
U
Win Mra, Chairman of the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission, 27 Pyay Road,
Hline Township, Yangon, Republic of the Union of Myanmar; Fax:
+95-1-659668
·
Dr.
Tun Shin, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, Office No. 25,
Naypyitaw, MYANMAR; Fax: +95 67 404 146/ 106
·
U
Tun Tun Oo, Chief Justice, Office of the Supreme Court, Office No. 24,
Naypyitaw, MYANMAR; Fax: + 95 67 404 059
·
U
Kyaw Kyaw Htun, Director General, Myanmar Police Force, Ministry of Home
Affairs, Office No. 10, Naypyitaw, MYANMAR; Fax: +951 549 663 / 549
208
·
H.E. Mr. Maung Wai, Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative to the United
Nations in Geneva, Avenue Blanc 47, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland. Fax: +41 22 732 89
19, +41 22 732 73 77, Email: mission@myanmargeneva.org
·
Embassy of Myanmar in Brussels,
Boulevard Général Wahis 9, 1030 Brussels, Belgium, Fax: +32 (0)32 2 705 50 48,
Email: mebrussels@skynet.be
Please also write to the
diplomatic representations of Burma in your respective countries.
http://www.information.myanmaronlinecentre.com/myanmar-ex-burma-arbitrary-detention-and-sentencing-of-mr-thein-aung-myint/
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