Burma: 14 land rights activists sentenced to six months' jail time for staging peaceful sit-in
Event- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 18, 2015
- Event Description
Fourteen activists from Rangoon's Michaungkan Township on Wednesday 18th February were sentenced to imprisonment for six months each for staging a sit-in at the gates of the City Hall. The sit-in was one of a number of protests that have been held by the activists decrying a historic land grab that took place in 1990. Protestors say they were evicted from their homes in the suburban township of Rangoon when the Burmese military seized their land. Robert San Aung, a renowned human rights lawyer who is acting as legal counsel for the group, told DVB that 14 people were sentenced at the court in Kyauktada Township, 12 of whom were women, including a 68-year-old. The 14 were arrested on 23 December 2014 when authorities dispersed their camp at the gates of the City Hall in downtown Rangoon. "The defendants were facing two charges under Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law ... They also faced additional charges under articles 143[unlawful assembly] and 341[wrongful restraint] of the Penal Code," Robert San Aung said. "The judge sentenced them all to one month under each of the Article 18 charges - in total two months - and to three months under Article 143, plus a further month under Article 341. This is six months altogether." "Jailing people is not the way to solve a problem. Rather, it will exacerbate it," he added. Before moving to the City Hall site, former Michaungkan landowners had established a camp in 2014 that occupied Maha Bandula Park in Rangoon for seven months. In August, a 72-year-old protestor died at the encampment after 138 days at the park. After the woman passed away her fellow activists reiterated that nothing would make them accept the loss of their land, even death. The camp was eventually forcibly cleared. In July 2014, Sein Than, a community leader from Michaungkan, was arrested and jailed for staging an unauthorised protest. His detention was met with a symbolic hunger strike. During Burma's military era, land was routinely confiscated by the government for state use. But ever since Burma transitioned to a quasi-civilian government in 2011 protests have become increasingly common as villagers attempt to reclaim their assets. New land legislation introduced in early 2012 was met with major criticism. In particular, critics have argued that the new laws legitimise government and corporate land-grabs while offering little protection to individuals. A government commission established in 2012 to resolve thousands of land-grab claims has yet to make progress on the majority of claims it has received.
- Impact of Event
- 14
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly
- Freedom of association
- Right to property
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 16.780832999999987
Longitude: 96.149722
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On the 18th February 2015, fourteen (14) land rights activists were sentenced by a Rangoon court to six months each in jail for staging a sit-in outside City Hall, one of a number of protests that have been held by activists decrying a historic land grab that took place in 1990 in Michaungkan township, Rangoon. They were convicted of two charges under Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law. They also faced additional charges under articles 143[unlawful assembly] and 341[wrongful restraint] of the Penal Code. This is not the first time a member of the Michaungkan activists has been criminalised; in July 2014 Sein Than, a community leader, was arrested and jailed for staging an 'unauthorised' protest.