MMR 001 / 0418 / OBS 050
Killing
Myanmar
April 17, 2018
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Myanmar.
Description of the situation:
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the killing of Mr. O Moo, a member of both the Mutraw Emergency Assistance Team (MEAT) [1] and Karen National Union (KNU). Mr. O Moo was an ethnic Karen community leader who actively advocated for the right of Karen, including land rights and forest management.
According to the information received, on April 5, 2018, Mr. O Moo was fatally shot by Tatmadaw [Myanmar army] soldiers while he was riding a motorbikewith a soldier from the armed ethnic group Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). Mr. O Moo was on his way home in Ler Mu Plaw Village, Papun Township, Karen State, after providing humanitarian aid to villagers displaced by renewed hostilities between the army and the KNLA. It was reported that despite several attempts villagers were not able to retrieve Mr. O Moo’s body as they came under fire when they returned to the place where he was killed.
The Observatory condemns in the strongest terms the killing of Mr. O Moo and urges the Burmese authorities to carry out a thorough, impartial, and transparent investigation into his murder without undue delay and to hold those responsible accountable.
The Observatory expresses its utmost concern over ongoing deadly attacks against human rights defenders in Myanmar [2] and reiterates its call upon the Burmese authorities to adopt effective measures to ensure the protection of human rights defenders in the country and to ensure proper investigations into these killings.
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities in Myanmar asking them to:
i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of all human rights defenders in Myanmar;
ii. Carry out an immediate, thorough, impartial, and transparent investigation into the murder of Mr. O Moo in order to identify all those responsible, bring them before an independent tribunal, and sanction them as provided by the law;
iii. Put an end to all acts of harassment against all human rights defenders in Myanmar, and ensure that they are able to carry out their activities without hindrance;
iv. Comply with all the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular with its Articles 1 and 12.2;
v. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses:
· U Win Myint, President; Fax: +95 1 652 624
· Lt Gen Kyaw Swe, Minister for Home Affairs; Fax: +95 67 412 439; Email:mohamyanmar@gmail.com
· Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Minister for Foreign Affairs; Fax: +95 67 412396
· U Win Mra, Chairman of the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission; Email: chmyanmarnhrc@gmail.com
· U Tun Tun Oo, Attorney General; Email: ago.h.o@mptmail.net.mm
· Maj Gen Zaw Win, Director General, Myanmar Police Force, Ministry of Home Affairs; Fax: +95 67 412006; Email: mpfserver@gmail.com
· HE U Htin Lynn, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland; Fax: +41 22 732 89 19, +41 22 732 73 77; Email: mission@myanmargeneva.org
· Embassy of Myanmar in Brussels, Belgium; Fax: +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, April 17, 2018
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and OMCT. The objective of this programme is to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
· Tel and fax FIDH + 33 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
· Tel and fax OMCT + 41 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29