URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY
MMR 002 / 0515 / OBS 040
Obstacles to freedom of peaceful assembly / Arbitrary detention /
Sentencing / Judicial harassment
Burma / Myanmar
May 19, 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), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Burma / Myanmar.
Description of the situation :
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the arbitrary detention and sentencing of six human rights defenders : Ms. Naw Ohn Hla, co-founder of the Democracy and Peace Women Network (DPWN), Mr. Nay Myo Zin, a retired Army-captain who has been jailed on several occasions for peaceful protest activities, Mr. Than Swe, Mr. Tin Htut Paing, Ms. Sein Htwe, and Ms. San San Win, also known as Lay Lay.
According to the information received, on May 15, 2015, Rangoon’s Dagon Township Court sentenced Ms. Naw Ohn Hla, Mr. Nay Myo Zin, Mr. Than Swe, Mr. Tin Htut Paing, Ms. Sein Htwe, and Ms. San San Win to four years and four months in prison with charges under Article 147 (rioting), Article 353 (disturbing a public servant on duty), Article 505(b) (disturbing public tranquillity) of the Criminal Code, and Article 18 of the Act on the Right to Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession (unauthorised demonstration).
The charges stem from a demonstration which was held in front of the Chinese Embassy in Rangoon on December 29, 2014. On that day, nearly 100 people marched towards the embassy to protest against the killing by police officers on December 22, 2014 of villager Khin Win, during a protest held at the Letpadaung copper mine site in Salingyi Township, Sagaing Division. Police forces blocked the group before they could reach the embassy (see background information).
Since their arrest in December 2014 and January 2015 (see background information), Ms. Naw Ohn Hla, Mr. Nay Myo Zin, Mr. Than Swe, Mr. Tin Htut Paing, Ms. Sein Htwe, and Ms. San San Win have all been detained at Rangoon’s Insein Prison.
The Observatory recalls that on April 2, 2015, Rangoon’s Bahan Township Court sentenced Ms. Naw Ohn Hla to four months in prison under Article 18 of the Act on the Right to Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession for leading a peaceful protest on September 29, 2014, calling for the release of political prisoners. Furthermore,Ms. Naw Ohn Hla and Mr. Nay Myo Zin are also facing other charges under Article 18 in Kyauktada, Pabedan, Latha and Lanmadaw Townships.
The Observatory strongly condemns the sentencing of Ms. Naw Ohn Hla, Mr. Nay Myo Zin, Mr. Than Swe, Mr. Tin Htut Paing, Ms. Sein Htwe, and Ms. San San Win, as well as their continued detention and judicial harassment, which merely aim at sanctioning their peaceful human rights activities.
The Observatory calls upon authorities in Burma to immediately and unconditionally release Ms. Naw Ohn Hla, Mr. Nay Myo Zin, Mr. Than Swe, Mr. Tin Htut Paing, Ms. Sein Htwe, and Ms. San San Win.
Background information :
Since August 2012, community members in the Letpadaung area in Sagaing Division have staged peaceful protests against the copper mine project, voicing concerns over environmental damage, inadequate compensation for displaced families, and negative impacts to their livelihoods. Authorities violently repressed these demonstrations on several occasions. In November 2012, police in Salingyi Township, Sagaing Division, used white phosphorous grenades to disperse a peaceful protest near the Letpadaung copper mine, resulting in severe injuries to at least 70 activists and monks.
Ms. Naw Ohn Hla, Mr. Nay Myo Zin, Mr. Than Swe, Mr. Tin Htut Paing and Ms. Sein Htwe have been involved in Letpadaung protests for many years and have been arrested on many occasions.
Ms. Naw Ohn Hla, has been arrested and jailed numerous times for peaceful political activities. After serving nearly all of a two-year sentence relating to charges of providing donations to a monastery, she was released in May 2011 under a presidential amnesty. In August 2013, she was sentenced to two years in prison for leading a community protest against the Letpadaung copper mine, but was again released in November 2013 under a presidential amnesty. On December 6, 2013, she was again detained for a protest against the Letpadaung copper mine and released under a presidential amnesty on December 31, 2013.
On August 26, 2011, Mr. Nay Myo Zin was sentenced to 10 years in prison under Article 33/A of the Electronics Law for writing online articles critical of the military. On January 13, 2012, he was released under a presidential amnesty. In May 2012, following a January 2013 arrest related to a land rights protest, authorities ordered him to serve six of the nine years remaining on his earlier sentence. He was released days later under a presidential amnesty. On April 4, 2014, Western Rangoon District Court sentenced him to three months imprisonment under Article 18 of the Act on the Right to Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession.
On December 30, 2014, authorities arrested and detained Ms. Naw Ohn Hla, Mr. Nay Myo Zin, Mr. Tin Htut Paing, and Ms. Sein Htwe following their participation to a protest on December 29, denouncing the killing by police officers of villager Khin Win during a protest held at the Letpadaung copper mine site in Salingyi Township, Sagaing Division on December 22, 2014.
Mr. Than Swe and Ms. San San Win were arrested and further detained in January 2015 on the same grounds.
Actions requested :
Please write to the authorities of Burma, urging them to :
i. Immediately and unconditionally release Ms. Naw Ohn Hla, Mr. Nay Myo Zin, Mr. Than Swe, Mr. Tin Htut Paing, Ms. Sein Htwe, and Ms. San San Win, as their detention is arbitrary and seems aimed at sanctioning their human rights activities ;
ii. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Ms. Naw Ohn Hla, Mr. Nay Myo Zin, Mr. Than Swe, Mr. Tin Htut Paing, Ms. Sein Htwe, and Ms. San San Win, as well as of all human rights defenders in Burma ;
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 theinternational and regional human rights instruments ratified by Burma.
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.
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Paris-Geneva, May 19, 2015
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of human rights defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.