- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Dec 14, 2020
- Event Description
Questions are being raised over a recent case opened against a DMG reporter in Arakan State who is being charged with defamation under the Telecommunications Law in connection with a recently published article, instead of first resorting to the News Media Law for resolution.
“It is as if a case is being filed against us because of hate toward us. We published the story in accordance with media ethics, so we don’t understand why such a case was filed against us,” said U Aung Marm Oo, editor-in-chief of Development Media Group (DMG).
Engineer U Maung Win from Road/Bridge Special Group (4) filed a lawsuit against Aung Kyaw Min aka Kyaw Myo Aung at the Maungdaw Myoma police station earlier this month under Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law, alleging defamation on the erroneous premise that the story in question misquoted him.
Under the headline “Soonest repair needed at Maungdaw 3rd-Mile Bridge,” the article was published on the Facebook page and website of DMG on December 11.
U Aung Marm Oo said he had heard that the case was filed by U Maung Win at the behest of the Arakan State government.
“The plaintiff said he did not want to sue the reporter. We have heard that he was forced to sue the reporter by the local government,” DMG’s chief editor said.
Aung Kyaw Min was questioned at the Maungdaw Myoma police station on December 14 and was released on K500,000 ($370) bail.
Aung Kyaw Min, a Maungdaw-based DMG journalist who stands by his story, said the lawsuit against him is a threat to truth-seeking.
“The government seems to be cracking down on our journalists and the prosecution is a threat to the truth,” he said.
DMG phoned the head of the Maungdaw Myoma police station, Police Captain Ye Naing Tun, seeking comment on the case, but he could not be reached.
DMG has faced legal action previously, in a case that remains open. Sittwe Special Branch (SB) police filed charges against U Aung Marm Oo under Section 17(2) of the Unlawful Associations Act on May 1, 2019. He has been on the run since May 2019, and almost 20 months later, the charges against him have not been dropped.
If action is to be taken against a member of the media, in accordance with the 2014 News Media Law it is necessary to first file a complaint with the Myanmar Press Council (MPC).
The law states, “If any of the responsibilities or ethics required in Article 9 are considered to be breached by a News Media worker, the aggrieved department, organization or individual shall have the right to complain to the council first.”
Of the Arakan State capital Sittwe’s main three media outlets — Development Media Group, Narinjara News Agency and Western News — cases have reportedly been filed against U Aung Marm Oo of DMG and Narinjara’s chief editor, U Khaing Mrat Kyaw.
Ko Wunna Khwar Nyo, editor-in-chief of Western News, said the recent lawsuits against journalists in Arakan State are a source of concern for local reporters.
“We are concerned for our safety. There are only three media outlets in Arakan State. Reporters in Arakan State are increasingly concerned about the local government’s threat to prosecute under Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law,” he added.
Maung Saungkha, director of the free speech advocacy group Athan, criticised the prosecution of journalists as deliberate, saying the local government should monitor them.
“I think the respective local governments should monitor these lawsuits. It is a shame that it is being pointed out by international and local civil society organisations. We think suing over trivial matters is a major obstacle to democracy,” he said.
Under the National League for Democracy (NLD) government, about 50% of all lawsuits against journalists have been filed under Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law, according to Athan.
“The government should stop litigating and amend the Telecommunications Law as soon as possible to prevent such lawsuits in the future,” Maung Saungkha said.
The December 11 news story about the bridge in Maungdaw was based in part on an interview willfully given by the complainant U Maung Win. DMG has demanded that the case be withdrawn, saying that at no point did the article misquote or misattribute any of the cited individuals.
DMG is also insisting that the complainant first take his grievance to the Myanmar Press Council, which is empowered under the News Media law to arbitrate in such circumstances.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 8, 2021
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Dec 21, 2020
- Event Description
Three youths charged under Section 19(a) of the Peaceful Assembly Law over a human rights demonstration in the Arakan State capital earlier this month appeared before the Sittwe Township Court on December 30.
Ko Min Bar Chay aka Ko Than Hla, one of the accused, said a meeting to develop a case management plan was held at the court on Wednesday.
“The judge asked both sides if we wanted to settle the case. Both sides said to go to trial,” he said.
More than 30 young people joined a demonstration in Sittwe to mark Human Rights Day, celebrated globally on December 10, during which participants denounced ongoing human rights violations in Arakan State. Their march began at Sittwe’s BXT port and proceeded along Shukhintha Street, with demonstrators holding placards protesting rights abuses. The three defendants were arrested by police near Sittwe Hotel, and were released on bail later that evening.
Ko Min Bar Chay, Ko Naing Naing Tun and Ma Khine Myat Thu from the Rakhine Youth New Generation Network were charged on December 21 by the head of the Sittwe Township police.
“I do not understand why [the judiciary] accepted the charge. We did not stage a protest. We did not criticise someone. But the legal [authorities] accepted the charge of the police against us,” Ko Min Bar Chay said. “It proves how Myanmar’s rule of law, justice and judiciary sector is deteriorating.”
Under Section 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law, anyone who is convicted of assembling or demonstrating without applying for a permit in advance faces up to three months in prison, a fine not to exceed K30,000 ($22.50), or both.
Their next court hearing is scheduled for on January 14.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 8, 2021
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Oct 20, 2020
- Event Description
Police have opened a case against four students who were arrested on October 19 after staging a protest against the government and military in the Arakan State capital Sittwe.
“Police have opened a case against them under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code for committing sedition and causing public disturbances,” said lawyer U Kyaw Nyint Maung.
Section 505(b) criminalises statements “likely to cause fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public, whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquility.” It carries with it a maximum sentence of two years in prison.
Police Major Zaw Naing of the Sittwe Township Police filed a complaint against them on Tuesday and a court hearing is scheduled for November 3.
Dozens of people joined Monday’s protest, which was organised by the Arakan Students’ Union.
Prosecuting student protesters is no way to address their grievances, said the chairman of the Sittwe University Students Union, Ko Toe Toe Aung.
“Those who are doing the prosecuting should be aware that people have voiced criticisms because they [the targets of protest] are doing wrong. If they were not doing anything wrong, we wouldn’t need to stage protests and end up in police stations and prisons,” he said.
Two of the four detained students are also facing lawsuits under the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law for staging a demonstration against alleged human rights violations in Arakan State in early September.
Recently, two students from the All Burma Federation of Student Unions who staged an anti-war protest in Mandalay were each sentenced to a total of five years in prison and have another court hearing scheduled for October 21.
Beginning in September, more than a dozen people have seen charges brought against them under the Peaceful Assembly Law, the Natural Disaster Management Law and the Penal Code for staging demonstrations against armed conflict, human rights abuses and internet restrictions in Arakan State.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Student, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 1, 2020
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 13, 2020
- Event Description
On September 11, the day after protesters distributed anti-war material in Mandalay, Chan Aye Thar-Zan Township police in Mandalay briefly detained and charged ABFSU member Myo Chit Zaw, 21, and filed charges against 12 others for failing to notify the authorities in advance of the September 10 protest. On September 13, police briefly detained and charged ABFSU Central Executive Committee members Soe Hla Naing and Kyaw Thiha Ye Kyaw on the same charges.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 21, 2020
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Oct 7, 2020
- Event Description
A former lawyer from the Arakan State capital Sittwe was charged at the township court under the Telecommunications Law’s Section 66(d), a notorious defamation provision, on October 7.
The accused, U Thar Pwint, said he had shared posts on social media about the deaths of civilians in Arakan State amid ongoing armed conflict in the region.
“I was sued without any reason. If I was sued for sharing posts, the person who put up the post should be the No. 1 accused,” said U Thar Pwint. “Secondly, I was not the only person who shared the post. If there are 20 who shared the post, all these people have to be sued. The reason for me is they don’t like me.”
Major Kyaw Zaw of a local Tatmadaw engineering unit filed the case as plaintiff under Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law, which threatens up to three years in prison for anyone “extorting, coercing, restraining wrongfully, defaming, disturbing, causing undue influence or threatening to any person by using any Telecommunications Network.”
U Thar Pwint has been released on bail but will face his first court hearing on October 21.
Another Sittwe resident, U Soe Naing, was sued in August under 66(d) for allegedly making comments about the government on social media.
“There are things relating to the government and there are also things not relating to the government. I was not blaming the government but just commenting as a citizen on what they have said and done,” U Soe Naing said.
“Dear war victims, please honour the government for giving us a bar of soap to protect against coronavirus,” reads one of U Soe Naing’s Facebook posts. “We’d like to know whether the [Chief Minister] U Nyi Pu government, which said it has responsibility and accountability, has any plan to resign or not.”
“The government, the Tatmadaw, the leaders must bear political criticisms,” said Ma Thet Su Pyae Eain, a researcher for the freedom of expression advocacy group Athan. “We criticise the filing of lawsuits under such sections. All the cases filed against them should be withdrawn as soon as possible. Only then can we carry on with good democracy.”
In the first four years of the National League for Democracy (NLD) government’s five-year term, cases involving violations of free expression were filed against 1,051 people, according to a July report from Athan.
Charges brought under the Telecommunications Law topped the list.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 20, 2020
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Aug 7, 2020
- Event Description
The Observatory has been informed by the Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability (MATA)[1] about the arbitrary detention of Mr. Gei Om, a member of MATA who works actively on environmental protection and conservation in Chin State. Mr. Gei Om is also a member of the Chin Aung Ta Man (a youth organisation of Chin people), the Chin Civil Society Network, and the Man Eain Working Committee (a community-based organisation).
According to the information received, on July 24, 2020, Mr. Gei Om was taken into custody after a local official in Ohn Village Tract sent a letter of complaint to authorities in Mindat Township, Chin State, on July 13, 2020. The complaint alleged that Mr. Gei Om had spread false news about possible illicit activities throughout Chin villages, was involved in an illegal land dispute settlement in 2016, and had been collecting taxes from villages.
Prior to his arrest, Mr. Gei Om helped local community leaders to monitor the impact of a project of model farms to harvest oil seed plants designed by the Management Committee of Mindat Township. They found out that the local government in charge of the model farms had engaged in illegal logging and that the farms had caused environmental damage to the Natma Taung National Park. On June 1, 2020, they had sent a previous complaint to the Environmental Conservation Department (ECD) of the Ministry of Natural Resource and Environmental Conservation (MONREC), which ordered the Forest Department in Mindat Township to carry out an investigation into the matter. During a meeting with Forest Department officials and two representatives of local communities, Mr. Gei Om, who acted as a negotiator and translator from Chin to Burmese and vice versa, advised the community leaders not to sign documents, which asserted that an investigation was carried out and no wrongdoing had been found. The above-mentioned July 13 complaint letter of the Ohn Village Tract official against Mr. Gei Om was sent to the Mindat Township authorities following this meeting, and led to his arrest.
On August 7, 2020, the Deputy Police Chief charged Mr. Gei Om under Section 5 (1) (F) (G) of the Restriction of Movement and Probation of Habitual Offenders Act of 1961 for his participation in the settlement of a land dispute in 2016. The fabricated charge stemmed from his participation as a community negotiator in the resolution of a land dispute under a customary dispute resolution mechanism after the destruction of a village by a landslide in 2015. At the time, the government authorities had authorized the land dispute to be settled according to local customs but they subsequently claimed that the dispute was not settled legally and that Mr. Gei Om should therefore be charged for his involvement in it, which the authorities claimed it amounted to inciting conflict.
After charges were pressed, Mr. Gei Om was offered a conditional release provided that he would not leave Mindat Township and he would report on a bi-monthly basis to the police for six months to one year, which he refused. If found guilty, Mr. Gei Om will be prohibited from leaving his township and, if he does not comply with this measure of restriction, he could be sentenced to one year in prison. He is currently detained in Mindat Township.
The Observatory expresses its utmost concern over the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Mr. Gei Om, which seem to be only aimed at punishing him for his legitimate human rights work.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 7, 2020
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 12, 2020
- Event Description
The Myanmar authorities should cease responding to criticism of the government and military with arrests and prosecutions of students protesting human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. They should immediately drop charges against the students and unconditionally release those in custody.
At least 20 students around the country have been charged or are facing arrest under various laws after joining protests or sticker campaigns critical of the government or military, including criticizing the mobile internet shutdown in Rakhine and Chin States, according to the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU).
“The Myanmar government deserves a failing grade for intimidating and harassing students peacefully expressing their views,” said Linda Lakhdhir, Asia legal adviser. “Neither criticizing the government nor peacefully protesting should be a crime, and the authorities should stop treating them as such.”
On September 10, 2020, members of the student federation conducted a “sticker” campaign in solidarity with Rakhine students who had been arrested the previous day for protesting internet restrictions. The ABFSU members distributed fliers and stickers demanding that 3G and 4G data services be turned back on across eight townships in Rakhine and Chin States. The slogans included: “No bloody government. No murder army” and “Oppose murder and fascism and stand together with the Rakhine people.”
On September 12, the Special Branch unit of the police conducted a nighttime raid on the home of Paing Min Khant, a student in North Okkala, Yangon. “When the police knocked on our door, they told us that they were coming into our home to take temperature checks as part of neighborhood health checks for Covid-19,” Paing Min Khant told Human Rights Watch. “But then they came in and told us they had filed complaints against us under section 19 of the Peaceful Procession and Peaceful Assembly Law in Mayangone and Kyauktada townships [in Yangon].”
Police took him and another student, Wai Yan Phyo Moe, to the Mayangone township police station, where they were told they would face charges under the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law for failing to notify police when distributing anti-war fliers and stickers in downtown Yangon.
Myanmar’s Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law requires organizers to give notice to the authorities 48 hours before holding a protest or assembly. The law carries a maximum penalty of three months in jail and a fine. Treating the distribution of stickers and flyers as an “assembly” requiring notice is a new and overly broad reading of that law, Human Rights Watch said.
The authorities also threatened Paing Yin Khant and Wai Yan Phyo Moe with possible additional charges under section 505(b) of the Penal Code, which carries a penalty of up to two years in prison and a fine.
The pair said police later took them to the Kyauktada township police station and questioned them about the whereabouts of other students before finally releasing the two around midnight. The students said the police did not immediately file charges against them but said they were conducting the investigations as part of an “open” case.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 25, 2020
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 22, 2020
- Event Description
Three Arakanese student leaders detained over an anti-government protest earlier this month will be charged under the Peaceful Assembly Law in a legal change from earlier indications that they would be prosecuted using the Natural Disaster Management Law.
The three students were arrested during a demonstration on September 9 outside the Arakan State government offices, where they were demanding the restoration of internet access and an end to human rights abuses in Arakan State.
They were remanded until September 24 under Section 25 of the Natural Disaster Management Law, but the lawsuit was changed at the Sittwe Township Court on September 22 as it was determined that the legislation was not appropriate for the circumstances.
Section 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law covers a requirement to inform authorities in advance of a planned demonstration.
“The section under which to prosecute them was changed according to the recommendation of the legal office,” said U Kyaw Nyunt Maung, a lawyer for the students — Ko Toe Toe Aung, chair of the Sittwe University Students’ Union, and information officers Ko Kyaw Naing Htay and Ko Oo Than Naing of the Arakan Students’ Union and Sittwe University for Computer Studies respectively.
Section 19 allows for bail, and the trio were released with their trial’s first hearing scheduled for October 6.
Members of student unions in Yangon, Mandalay and Meiktila have also faced charges for protesting against human rights abuses in Arakan State. Cases have been opened against some 20 students under various legal statutes including at least one charge of incitement.
“We thank our alliance students who support us. We want to urge them to keep trying together in the future,” said Ko Kyaw Naing Htay, information officer for the Arakan Students’ Union.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 25, 2020
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 10, 2020
- Event Description
The Mandalay student demonstration on September 10 protested alleged military misconduct in Arakan State. Protesters also demanded the full restoration of 4G mobile internet access in parts of Arakan and Chin states that have been deprived for more than a year.
Ko Myo Chit Zaw, from the Yadanarbon University Student Union, is being detained at the No. 6 police station in Mandalay. Charges have been brought against him under Myanmar’s Natural Disaster Management Law in addition to the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law, Ko Htoo Khant Thaw said.
A total of 13 students who joined the protest have had cases opened against them under Section 19 of the Peaceful Assembly Law, according to the federation.
“It is intended so that we don’t have any rights to note matters related to the military in Myanmar. So, all 13 students who participated in the protest yesterday are facing lawsuits. We don’t think it is appropriate. In fact, we noted the actual situations on the ground,” said Ko Htoo Khant Thaw.
On September 9, three students from the Arakan Student Union who staged a protest in front of the Arakan State government offices were arrested. Cases were opened against them under Section 25 of the Natural Disaster Management Law at the Sittwe Township Court on September 10.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 25, 2020
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 9, 2020
- Event Description
Authorities in Myanmar’s restive Rakhine state have arrested three students from the Rakhine Student Union for ignoring a law against large gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic by participating in a protest against the Myanmar government’s 15-month internet ban on eight townships in the state.
Toe Toe Aung, Kyang Naing Htay and Oo Than Naing staged their protest Wednesday in front of the Rakhine state government office building in the state capital Sittwe, holding signs critical of the government and military. They were arrested mid-protest and were officially charged with violating the Natural Disaster Management Act Thursday evening.
According to Myanmar’s military, the government ban on internet service to townships where Myanmar forces have been fighting the rebel Arakan Army (AA) since December 2018 keeps government troop movements secret while dampening speech that incites ethnic tensions.
The policy has however hampered aid workers helping war refugees and left people uninformed about the coronavirus pandemic.
The director of a local legal support group told RFA’s Myanmar Service that charging the students out of concern for public health was disingenuous.
“It is totally irrelevant to charge these students using the Natural Disaster Management Act. They were holding a protest. They didn’t do anything else, so it is obvious the authorities are trying to indict them for protesting,” Nyein Chan of the Thazin Legal Aids group said.
“Are they going to charge other crimes like robbery or murder that occur during this pandemic under that same law? We should question them. They are manipulating the law to prosecute these students,” said Nyein Chan.
The Legal Clinic Myanmar office told RFA it would provide legal services for the arrested trio.
“These students have asked us for legal help. We are cooperating with other CSOs to give the students the help they need. Well will try to prevent them from being charged by irrelevant laws,” said Mya Thuzar, an attorney at the clinic.
“As we are now in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, things are so unstable. So, we will make sure they will not fall into the wrong hands,” Mya Thuzar said.
Unlawful arrests
A Sittwe University Student Union official told RFA the three students were arrested in unlawful ways.
“We are pointing out the wrongdoings of the government and military. I would like to appeal to prosecute them lawfully. They say no one is above the law, whether that is the state government or anyone else,” said the student union’s vice-chair Bhone Pyae Phyo.
“The law is the law. They should apply the law equally to everyone, so I would like to appeal to the authorities to handle the case lawfully,” said Bhone Pyae Phyo.
Aung Than Wai, a Sittwe resident, told RFA that arresting the students goes against democratic ideals.
“The ruling government said they are working to maintain the rule of law, but they always detain everyone who speaks against them. This is very undemocratic,” said Aung Than Wai.
“They always try to silence us. We all know how many townships in Rakhine state are under an internet ban and for how long. These students are just trying to highlight that. The government is always trying to control all of us. This is a clear persecution of the people,” the Sittwe resident said.
At least 289 civilians have been killed and 641 injured in Rakhine state and in Paletwa township of neighboring Chin state since hostilities between the AA and the national army escalated in December 2018, according to an RFA tally.
Students charged in Mandalay
Meanwhile, in other parts of the country, police in Mandalay charged 15 college students from the All Burma Student Union when they also staged protests demanding an end to armed conflicts and the Rakhine internet ban.
Ba Chit, a student who got charged by the authorities told RFA, “They summoned me to come for interrogations. They didn’t arrest me. They asked for the details of the protests.”
“They also asked about our activities in the past. They asked me to sign a proclamation that we wouldn’t protest again but I refused. They said I was free to go,” Ba Chit said.
Kyaw Thiha Ye Kyaw, another member of the student union in Mandalay, told RFA, “I and the other members are still in our college. I told the police I would not come.”
“If they come to take me in person, I will go with them. But I will not back down. We are protesting against the 2008 Constitution. So, we will not acknowledge any charges under the constitution,” the student said.
RFA attempted to contact the police station in Mandalay for comment but were unsuccessful.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 17, 2020
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 1, 2020
- Event Description
The Myanmar Telecommunications Ministry blocked the website for activist group Justice for Myanmar on September 1 for publishing information the government has deemed as �fake news�. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urges the Myanmar authorities to be more transparent on their definition of �fake news� and to ensure that they are not silencing critical voices.
Justice for Myanmar�s website was blocked on Tuesday by the country�s Telecommunications Ministry. The website was launched earlier this year by a team of human rights activists dedicated to uncovering the military�s business interests and monitoring human rights violations. The blocking of the platform is the latest in more than 200 other websites have been secretly blocked by Myanmar authorities in recent months.
Spokesman for the Ministry, Myo Swe, said �The social media monitoring team found that some websites are spreading fake news,� but did not comment on what exactly constituted false news or information.
Justice for Myanmar has conducted investigations into the government�s crackdown on Myanmar�s Rohingya Muslims in 2017, including a report about businesses that donated to the security forces for the campaign that the United Nations said was carried out with �genocidal intent�.
In a statement, representative for Justice for Myanmar Yadanar Muang said that the government�s censorship of their website �is an attempt to silence dissent and cover up the truth about the Myanmar military cartel�s corruption and international crimes.�
�We will continue speaking truth to power,� Muang added.
The recent wave of website censorships is seen as a method of silencing critics of the government and military and avoiding accountability for unlawful military campaigns.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Online
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 16, 2020
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Aug 12, 2020
- Event Description
Two Karen men and one Burmese woman were charged Wednesday by police under the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law for holding an event to mark the 70th Karen Martyrs� Day in Yangon.
The death of Karen revolutionary leader Saw Ba U Gyi, who was murdered on Aug. 12, 1950, is commemorated annually as Karen Martyrs� Day. Saw Ba U Gyi founded the Karen National Union (KNU), one of Myanmar�s prominent ethnic armed groups.
On Wednesday morning, Kyauktada Township police detained two Karen activists�Sa Thein Zaw Min and Saw Hser Kwar Lar�during a commemoration of Karen Martyrs� Day in the center of Yangon near Maha Bandula Park.
On Monday, authorities in the township denied the Karen organizers� request for permission to hold the Karen Martyrs� Day event, citing COVID-19 restrictions. Mass gatherings are banned in Myanmar under the government�s COVID-19-related restrictions.
On Wednesday, police also arrested Burmese activist Daw Sein Htwe, who attended the 70th Karen Martyrs� Day event, for allegedly absconding from a lawsuit brought against her under the Unlawful Assembly Law last year.
On Wednesday evening, the two Karen activists�Sa Thein Zaw Min and Saw Hser Kwar Lar�were released after police opened lawsuits against them under Article 20 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law, according to Naw Ohn Hla, chair of the Karen Women�s Union (KWU).
Under Article 20, organizers of a gathering can face a maximum sentence of one month in prison and a fine of 10,000 kyats (US$7.31) for failing to properly inform township authorities about a gathering, including details on the kind of activities involved, slogans, speeches, places and times.
Police Colonel Myo Thet of the Kyauktada Police Force told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that police sued the two Karen activists for reading messages that were not mentioned in the letter about the event that they filed with authorities.
Under one of the terms of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law, people who join an assembly �must not recite or shout chants other than the ones approved.�
On the same day, the Kyauktada Township Court sent Daw Sein Htwe to Insein Prison as she declined to request bail after being charged under Article 19 of the same law. Article 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law carries a maximum sentence of three months in jail and a 30,000 kyat fine (US$21.93) for violating any of over a dozen rules on how and when people may assemble.
This week�s arrests mirror a series of arrests that followed last year�s Karen Martyrs� Day events in Yangon, after which Sa Thein Zaw Min was sentenced to 15 days in prison.
On Oct. 12, 2019, Kyauktada police opened unlawful assembly cases against Daw Sein Htwe and two other activists�Ma Zarchi Linn of the Democracy, Peace and Women (DPW) group and Naw Larshee Htoo of the KWU�for leading a rally in solidarity with three other Karen activists who had earlier been sentenced to 15 days in jail for holding a rally on the 69th Karen Martyrs� Day in Yangon.
Karen activists Sa Thein Zaw Min, Saw Albert Cho and Daw Naw Ohn Hla, were sentenced to 15 days in prison by the Kyauktada Township Court on Oct. 2, 2019 for the 2019 Karen Martyrs� Day gathering.
Police Colonel Myo Thet said that Daw Sein Htwe was sued on Wednesday under Article 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Precession Law for leading the solidarity rally last year without informing the township authorities.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Minority Rights, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jun 21, 2020
- Event Description
Myanmar police have charged six activists who participated in protests against a year-long government-ordered internet service shutdown in Myanmar�s conflict-ridden Rakhine state, accusing them of violating the country�s peaceful assembly law.
Five of the activists are from Yangon-based Athan, a freedom of expression advocacy group. They were taken into custody for denouncing the internet ban by hanging posters on an overpass in downtown Yangon on June 21, questioning whether the ban was intended to cover up possible atrocities committed by the Myanmar military in the conflict zone.
Myo Min Tun, an activist from the Ramree Township Youth Network in Rakhine state, also was charged for participating in a protest in Ramree town on the same day. A group of young people wearing T-shirts saying �Oppose Internet Oppression� demanded the restoration of internet access, according to photos the group posted on Facebook.
All six activists have been charged under Section 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law, which entails criminal liability for organizing or participating in an assembly for which notice has not been given to local officials.
Rights groups have criticized the statute as incompatible with democracy, saying its provisions are vaguely written and could be used arbitrarily to restrict freedom of expression. They also point to the law's inclusion of prison sentences for peaceful protests.
Ye Wai Phyo Aung, an Athan cofounder, said police informed the group that five of its members, including executive director Maung Saungkha, had been charged, but provided no details or the identities of the others arrested.
�They have filed the charges for the protests at the Sule overpass downtown,� he told RFA. �They displayed posters and banners to protest against the internet shutdown.�
Pe Than, a lawmaker from Rakhine�s Myebon township, said the internet service blackout has hurt residents. He has appealed to the government to lift the ban.
�There have been several losses for the local people in terms of education, health, and social and government administration,� he said.
�It has also intensified the spread of fake news, rights violations, and war crimes,� he added, referring to the growing state of lawlessness in the conflict zones. �The local people are paying the price.�
The internet shutdown originally was imposed in June 2019 in eight townships in Rakhine sate and in Chin state�s Paletwa township amid intensifying clashes between government forces and the rebel Arakan Army (AA). Authorities later lifted the restriction in Rakhine�s Maungdaw township.
The 18-month-long conflict that has killed 260 civilians and displaced more than 160,000 others.
The government has extended the ban until Aug. 1, saying it will lift it when the region is secure.
Myanmar military spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun said Tuesday that the internet shutdown in the remaining townships must remain in place to prevent the leakage of army information and the spread of hate speech on social media.
Rights groups and foreign diplomats in Myanmar have called on officials to reinstate the service, arguing that the cutoff has prevented civilians from accessing information about COVID-19 and from contacting humanitarian aid groups.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- NGO staff, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- May 4, 2020
- Event Description
Six labor rights activists, including two union leaders from a factory in Yangon�s Dagon Seikkan Township, were jailed for three months on Monday for leading strikes which violated COVID-19 orders.
Since May, 2, more than 100 workers from the Blue Diamond bags factory have blocked the entrance to demand full wages during April, although operations stopped from April 19 to 30 due to government orders.
The strike was led by members of the unregistered All Burma Federation of Trade Unions (ABFTU).
Ma Thet Htar Swe of the ABFTU told The Irrawaddy that the authorities on Monday broke up the strike and arrested two leaders and four ABFTU members without holding any talks.
That evening factory union leaders Ma Zar Zar Htun and Ma Lay Lay Mar and ABFTU members Ko Kyaw Myo, Ko Myo Gyi, Ko Min Min Naing and Ko Thet Oo Maung were sentenced to three months in prison by the Dagon Seikkan Township Court under the Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases Law, according to ABFTU.
On April 16 the government banned gatherings of five or more people under coronavirus preventative measures with the threat of up to six months in prison and fines.
Dagon Seikkan Township administrator U Zaw Naing Oo confirmed the prosecutions to The Irrawaddy.
Before the Thingyan holidays, Blue Diamond workers held strikes demanding their employer close the factory for a month with full pay to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
�There will be strikes for labor rights in the future. Our demands for rights cannot be halted by prosecutions,� said labor activists Ma Thet Htar Swe.
She said five other workers� leaders from the Rainwear House and Brightberg factories in Dagon Seikkan also were arrested last night over strikes held before Thingyan.
State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi told representatives of employers and labor unions via a video conference on April 22 that the government would take action against anyone violating COVID-19 restrictions.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 7, 2020
- Event Description
Right groups have asked the Karen State government to drop charges against a Karen environmental activist over his role in a traditional prayer ceremony, saying he was acting to protect local water resources against pollution from a coal-powered cement factory.
Police attempted to arrest Saw Tha Phoe, a Karen environmentalist from the Karen Rivers Watch Network, at his home in Hpa-an Township on Saturday but he was not at home.
The police attempted the arrest after the Hpa-an General Administration Department filed a complaint against Saw Tha Phoe under Section 505 (b) of the Penal Code, which prohibits making or circulating statements that may cause public fear or alarm and incite the public to commit an offense against the state or “public tranquility.”
The government filed the complaint in connection with a traditional Karen prayer ceremony on Jan. 17, in which local residents and village monks from Hpa-an’s Myaingkalay District came together to pray for protection from pollution caused by the Myaingkalay cement factory.
Several civil society groups issued statements Monday condemning the attempted arrest of Saw Tha Phoe and the government’s actions, saying they violated the rights of citizens, human rights and democratic standards.
Sai Khur Hseng, spokesperson for the Save the Salween Network, told The Irrawaddy Tuesday that the Karen State government should drop the charges as Saw Tha Poe was acting peacefully and did not break the law.
“It was an environmental issue and he was working for everyone to be able to enjoy a clean environment. He was just trying to protect against the actions of the company, which will damage the local community’s environment,” Sai Khur Seng said.
“We strongly condemn the actions of the township General Administration Department and the Karen State Government, which severely hinders Myanmar’s peace process and steps toward federalism,” read a statement by the Save the Salween Network and Burma Rivers Network.
Ko Ye Lin Myint from the Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability (MATA) told The Irrawaddy that it was meaningless for the Karen State government to take action against Saw Tha Phoe.
“He was just praying for the environment and he did not commit any act of defamation against the government,” he said.
Karen communities in the area have called for the Karen State government to stop the Myaingkalay cement factory from using coal power as it has polluted water sources around Myaingkalay’s Nat Kone Village, in Bat Village-tract.
Right groups also questioned what type of democratic government would order the arrest of Saw Tha Phoe.
Sai Khur Hseng pointed out that the actions of the Karen State government represent the opposite of the principles of democracy, peaceful community and environmental values often discussed by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Tin Tun Aung, a Hpa-an police officer, told Radio Free Asia that he and other police went to arrest Saw Tha Phoe at his house but he was not at home. The officer said that police will continue to search for the activist.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Mar 12, 2020
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Mar 4, 2020
- Event Description
Two journalists who were abducted and released by Border Guard Force (BGF) troops in Myawaddy Township, Karen State said they were tortured by the soldiers during interrogation.
Naw Betty Han, a reporter for Frontier Myanmar, and Mar Naw, a photojournalist for Myanmar Times, were detained in the jungle for one day and released Thursday evening. the two were covering land and development issues in Karen State.
According to Naw Betty Han, the two were walking near a bridge at Border Gate 1 in Myawaddy and taking a picture of heavy machines building a new casino when the guards of the building compound, wearing black suits and armbands with Chinese letters, detained them.
“They told us to delete the photos and later said we needed to meet a major and called a car,” she said.
The guards forced the two journalists to cover their faces with black masks and drove them to a rubber plantation. There, armed men wearing fatigues with BGF logos on their armbands sat the reporters on the ground and interrogated them.
Mar Naw said the men hit him several times and kicked his face until his nose bled while others tried to cut his long hair and another held a bayonet near the journalist’s neck.
“I apologized to them several times and asked them not to hit me but they didn’t stop. One guy held a bayonet to my neck,” said Mar Naw.
“They hit and kicked Ko Mar Naw but they didn’t hit me. But they aimed their guns at me and cocked the guns,” Naw Betty Han explained to reporters in Myawaddy after she was released on Thursday.
“The guard in plain clothes who stopped us at the construction site is the one who put us in this situation,” Mar Naw added. “We deleted the photos as [the guards] requested but they called the armed group and threatened us like this.”
After the initial interrogation, the two journalists were handcuffed and put into another car, again with black masks covering their eyes. The armed men took them and locked them in a small prison enclosure in the jungle.
Naw Betty Han said she told the men that they were journalists and called out the names of BGF majors and officials who she had previously interviewed.
“They slapped me in my face for calling out their major’s name. They said we took photos of their army outpost. We explained ourselves but they didn’t listen,” she recalled. “We were later put in a different enclosure at about 2 a.m. The next afternoon, they told us to get into the car, put the masks on and we were sent back to an office where we met with the BGF officers and were released.”
Colonel Saw Chit Thu, head of the ethnic Karen BGF, told The Irrawaddy that they are taking action against those who were involved in the incident.
“We gave no instructions to arrest or interrogate any reporters. We arrested the person who was involved in this incident, who went beyond official orders, and they will be punished. I also instructed the troops not to do this in the future,” said Col. Saw Chit Thu.
The Karen State-based BGF, formed in 2010, is a splinter group of the defunct Democratic Karen Buddhist Army and is backed by the military. The group operates businesses in the area, including casinos, and is involved in building the Chinese-backed Shwe Kokko real estate development project. Naw Betty Han has written extensively about them.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Intimidation and Threats, Sexual Violence, Torture, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 12, 2020
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 24, 2020
- Event Description
Authorities in Myanmar Monday charged nine students with violating the country’s Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law after they staged a protest Sunday against the government’s suspension of internet services in restive Rakhine and Chin states, home to fighting between ethnic insurgents and Myanmar’s military.
The nine students organized and were part of a gathering of about 100 who demanded that the government reinstate mobile internet access in nine townships in Chin and Rakhine. Internet access was blocked in June of last year. In five of the nine townships, access was later reinstated, but then blocked again earlier this month.
Under section 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law, the students could face sentences of up to three months, because they did not receive prior permission to hold the protest.
Sources told RFA’s Myanmar Service that police officers in plainclothes ventured onto the campus of Yangon University to make arrests. Six of the nine students who were charged were in custody, Reuters news agency quoted a participant in the protest as saying.
One of the accused students, Myat Hein Tun, secretary of the university's Rakhine Students Union, told RFA that he disagreed with the manner in which the arrests were made.
“I think it is totally unacceptable,” Myat Hein Tun said.
“They should not make arrests on a university campus,” the student leader added.
Another student, Htoo Khant Zaw, secretary of the Federation of Myanmar Student Union, told RFA that organizers felt they did not need permission to stage their protest because under a democratic government, they have the right to peacefully protest.
“We are not allowed to express our opinions,” Htoo Khant Zaw said.
“If we had applied for permission to protest as mandated by Article 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law, [the authorities] would tell us what slogans we could use and which route the protesters could take, and they would tell us not to deliver long speeches, so it does not make sense,” he added.
RFA contacted the police to inquire about the arrests, but an official from Kamayut Township Police Station said the police were not at liberty to answer questions on the matter.
During a news conference on Saturday, the government justified the internet shutdown in Chin and Rakhine states, saying it was for the benefit of the country. The government also said that access would not be restored while there is armed conflict in the region.
Ye Wai Phyo Aung, founder and research manager of Athan, a youth-led free speech advocacy group, told RFA that charging students for protesting against the internet shutdown was a “double violation of human rights.”
“We have seen so many cases of the government charging people who are merely practicing the right to freedom of expression and to criticize the wrongdoing of the government.”
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 5, 2020
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 11, 2020
- Event Description
Five labor rights activists, including a labor activist from a US-owned garment factory, were threatened with 24 days in prison unless they paid fines of 30,000 kyats (US$21) at Yangon’s Dagon Township Court on Feb. 11 for an unlawful assembly.
The five led more than 400 factory workers from the Natural Garment Company in Shwelinban industrial zone, Hlaing Tharyar Township, to the Yangon regional government offices on Nov. 7, 2019. They called on the National League for Democracy’s regional chief minister, U Phyo Min Thein, to take action against employers who they said violated labor rights and employment contracts.
Garment factory worker leaders Ma Thandar Phyoe, Ko Kyaw Myo Htike, Ko Chit Nan Maung and Ko Pyae Sone Aung and activist Ma Moe Sandra Myint from the labor rights advocacy group Action Labor Rights, were sued by Dagon police under Section 19 of the Unlawful Assembly Act.
Several labor supporters had to help pay the court fines to avoid prison sentences for the five union representatives.
“We just went there to request government help with our labor rights violation case. But we were sentenced although we did nothing wrong. This is unfair,” activist Ma Moe Sandra Myint told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.
The case undermined trust in government as no action was taken against employers who repeatedly violated labor rights and contracts, said Ma Moe Sandra Myint.
The labor disputes began in August 2019 because staff said their salaries were cut. Around 1,500 factory workers reportedly went on strike in September.
Media reports said strikers stopped 10 Chinese technicians and two interpreters from reaching the factory in mid-September as the management called for talks.
Strikers released the factory’s technicians and interpreters after the township offered to hold negotiations.
The factory announced its closure on Nov. 7, saying that operations had been disrupted by the strike. The management said it would compensate workers for the closure. The announcement led to the November protest.
The Natural Garment management was unavailable for comment. The clothing factory closed last year only to re-open with many of its former staff. Union leaders were excluded, said Ma Moe Sandra Myint.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Labour rights, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 4, 2020
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jan 17, 2020
- Event Description
The Myanmar authorities should immediately and unconditionally release four activists who have been convicted and sentenced to one month in prison simply for the peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Civil Rights Defenders said today.
On January 17, 2020, the Myawaddy Township court in Kayin/Karen State, south eastern Myanmar, sentenced four activists – Naw Ohn Hla, Maung U, U Nge (aka) Hsan Hlaing, and Sandar Myint – to one month in prison after finding them guilty of protesting without authorization under Article 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law. The law officially only requires notification of a protest but in practice, authorities treat the notification requirement as a request for permission. It has frequently been used to target peaceful activists, in particular those campaigning for justice for communities affected by human rights violations and abuses.
Police charged the four activists after they participated in a peaceful demonstration organized by residents of the Shwe Mya Sandi housing project in Kayin/Karen State on April 19, 2019. Residents had been protesting against demolition of their homes in February 2019, after the government declared that the land used for the project had been acquired unlawfully and began demolishing their homes. Protest organizers Maung U, U Nge (aka) Hsan Hlaing, and Sandar Myint had notified authorities of their intention to march along the Myawaddy road. Naw Ohn Hla was not involved in organizing the protest, however she joined in a show of solidarity. All four were arrested soon afterwards and charged under Article 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law. The court sentenced each of them to one month in prison. They are currently detained in Hpa An prison, Kayin/Karen State.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Civil Rights Defenders consider all four activists to be prisoners of conscience, imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. All three organizations call on the Myanmar authorities to release them immediately and without conditions, and quash their convictions.
The rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are enshrined in Articles 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Under international human rights law and standards, certain restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly may be imposed, but only in narrow, clearly defined circumstances. Such restrictions must be provided by law; be limited to certain specified purposes such as national security, public order or respect of the rights or reputation of others; and be necessary and proportionate to the
achievement of one of those permissible purposes. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Civil Rights Defenders are concerned about a number of laws in Myanmar – including the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law – which are incompatible with the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and which are used to arrest, prosecute and imprison human rights defenders and other peaceful activists. Our organizations urge the Myanmar authorities – in particular Parliament – to take immediate action to review and repeal or amend all such laws to bring them into line with international human rights law and standards.
Human rights defenders play a vital role in the protection and promotion of human rights, and it is crucial that they are able to speak out freely on human rights violations, including those committed by the military against civilians in areas of armed conflict, without fear of repercussions. Under Article 2 of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, each state has a duty to create the conditions necessary to defend human rights within their jurisdictions. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Civil Rights Defenders call on the Government of Myanmar to ensure an environment in which it is possible to defend human rights without fear of reprisal or intimidation.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 3, 2020
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jan 20, 2020
- Event Description
A court in Tanintharyi Region issued warrants Monday for the arrest of lawyer U Kyi Myint and poet U Saw Wai for failing to appear in court for a case over their remarks on Myanmar’s constitutional amendment process.
The Myanmar military filed the case in Tanintharyi’s Kawthaung Township against three prominent political activists—U Kyi Myint, U Saw Wai and former Myanmar army captain Nay Myo Zin—for remarks they made in April about charter amendment, suing the three activists under Section 505 of the Penal Code for allegedly defaming the military and military leadership.
The Kawthaung Township Court began hearings in the case on Jan. 20 after sending summons letters to the defendants.
On Monday, only Nay Myo Zin, who is already serving a one-year prison term in Insein Prison on the same charge from another military lawsuit, appeared in court. The military’s plaintiff also did not appear in court on Monday.
Poet U Saw Wai, a former political prisoner, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that the court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant goes beyond what is allowed under the law, as he has not received any legal summons letter from the court.
“There has never been justice and there never will be as the judiciary is in the hands of the military. That is why we talked about supporting amendments to the charter,” said U Saw Wai.
Lawyer U Kyi Myint told reporters that he did not attend the court hearing because police haven’t conducted a proper investigation into the case, as required under Criminal Procedure Code Section 202.
On Thursday, U Kyi Myint told The Irrawaddy that he had already reported to the Kawthaung Township Court and police force that, due to the warrant, he will appear in court for the next hearing, scheduled for Feb. 3.
U Saw Wai added that the defendants will hold a press conference in Yangon on Saturday.
Section 505(a) of the Penal Code carries a penalty of up to two years in prison for making, publishing or circulating statements, rumors or reports intended to cause military officers to mutiny, or to fail in or disregard their duties. Anyone sued under Section 505(a) must be arrested and detained, as it is a non-bailable offense.
In November, 130 Myanmar civil society groups released a joint statement condemning the military’s attempt to prosecute the three activists and calling on the military to drop the case immediately.
Over the past four years, the military has filed 47 lawsuits against 96 people, including 51 activists, 19 individual citizens, 14 journalists, five religious representatives, four artists and three members of political parties, according to a recent report by Athan, a group advocating for the right to freedom of expression in Myanmar.
Of the military’s 47 lawsuits, most have been filed by the military as a way to take action against its critics, the report said. Athan has also called on the military to drop its lawsuits and stop suing those that criticize it.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Myanmar: three political activists sued by the military
- Date added
- Feb 4, 2020
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Oct 31, 2019
- Event Description
The military has opened a case against three prominent political activists – former Myanmar army Captain Nay Myo Zin, poet Saw Wai and lawyer U Kyi Myint – for their remarks on charter amendments made in April in Kawthaung Township, Tanintharyi Region.
The Kawthaung Township Court accepted the case on Oct. 31, according to the military’s Coastal Command.
One of the accused, Nay Myo Zin, is currently serving a one-year prison term under the same charge, filed by the Tatmadaw in Yangon, for calling the Constitution undemocratic.
The three addressed a public gathering at a hall in Kawthaung in support of the Parliament’s charter amendment committee on April 3.
Colonel Thant Sin Oo from the Coastal Command told The Irrawaddy that their remarks defamed the Tatmadaw (military) and the military leadership.
“Their comments were aimed at causing misunderstanding. Therefore, we petitioned directly to the Kawthaung court and the court charged them under Article 505 [of the Penal Code] on Oct. 17,” said Col. Thant Sin Oo.
Section 505(a) of the Penal Code carries a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment for anyone convicted of making, publishing or circulating statements, rumors or reports intended to cause military officers to mutiny, or to fail in or disregard their duties. It is a non-bailable offense.
U Kyi Myint told The Irrawaddy that he was sued for mentioning amendments to the Constitution at the gathering in Kawthaung six months ago, but insisted he did not say anything to damage the Tatmadaw.
The lawyer said: “Former Captain Nay Myo Zin talked for about 75 minutes. Ko Saw Wai talked for about an hour. I only talked for 20 minutes, as I was the eldest there and I could not cope with the heat. I talked about the Constitution, nothing else.”
He added: “We had to stand and raise [issues] for our country’s sake. There was no support from another country. We cannot stay silent. If everyone is silent, our country will further deteriorate. We must speak out about what needs to be done.”
But he said he was denied the opportunity to address the Kawthaung court.
“The military applied to the court on Oct. 17 and the case was accepted yesterday [Thursday], but we did not receive a letter. We don’t know yet if the letter arrived, whether we would be arrested without bail and sent to prison. According to the procedures, we will have to travel there and face [the charges].”
The number of military attempts to sue activists, especially those supporting charter amendments, has risen since April, said Maung Saung Kha, the director of Athan, a group advocating freedom of expression. Of 30 cases, 24 were lawsuits filed directly by the Tatmadaw against 77 people. The six remaining cases were filed by other people on behalf of the Tatmadaw, he said.
Those targeted have included monks, journalists, politicians, political activists, farmers and comedians.
Military spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun said earlier that the Tatmadaw’s tolerance of criticism was not unlimited.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Myanmar: three political activists sued by the military
- Date added
- Nov 4, 2019
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Oct 3, 2019
- Event Description
Kyauktada Township police have opened unlawful assembly cases against another three activists for organizing a protest at a courthouse in Yangon in support of three Karen activists who were later convicted of similar charges.
The police captain of Kyauktada Township has opened cases against Daw Sein Htwe and Ma Zarchi Linn of the Democracy, Peace and Women (DPW) group, and Naw Larshee Htoo of the Karen Women’s Union (KWU) for leading a rally in solidarity with three Karen activists who were found guilty Wednesday for holding an earlier unlawful gathering on Karen Martyrs’ Day in Yangon.
The Kyauktada police said in a summons letter that about 130 people led by Daw Sein Htwe, Ma Zarchi Linn and Naw Larshee Htoo chanted slogans at the township court as police brought three Karen activists—Daw Naw Ohn Hla, Saw Elbert Cho and Sa Thein Zaw Min —to a court hearing on their own charges of unlawful assembly. The summons letter says that Daw Sein Htwe, Ma Zarchi Linn and Naw Larshee Htoo did not ask permission to organize their demonstration.
Larshee Htoo is Karen, while Daw Sein Htwe and Ma Zarchi Linn are ethnic Burmese. The three activists who are now being sued were asked to appear at Kyauktada Police Station on Friday.
On Thursday, DPW and KWU issued a joint statement condemning the allegations, saying that they will continue to protest against the lawsuits, which they say constitute dictatorial oppression.
”People who supported those whose rights were being violated have now been [sued]. This shouldn’t be the case,” Ko Min Nay Htoo, general secretary of the DPW, told The Irrawaddy on Friday.
He added that he suspects the cases are the result of a grudge held by the authorities, because all of the accused are members of organizations founded by Naw Ohn Hla.
Ko Min Nay Htoo also said that if police arrest these three activists, all the supporters who came to the court on Sept. 27 will go to the police station to be arrested.
Naw Ohn Hla, Saw Elbert Cho and Sa Thein Zaw Min were sentenced by the Kyauktada Township Court on Wednesday to 15 days in prison. They were then released without being sent to jail again as they had already been detained for more than two weeks while they were prosecuted.
Police had filed a lawsuit against the three after they refused to comply with orders to delete the word ”martyr” from all aspects of this year’s Karen Martyrs’ Day commemoration.
Authorities banned the use of the term ”martyr” in reference to Karen revolutionary leader Saw Ba U Gyi, who was murdered on Aug. 12, 1950. His death is commemorated annually as Karen Martyrs’ Day.
This year on Aug. 12, more than 100 people, led by Naw Ohn Hla, So Elbert Cho and Sa Thein Zaw Min, participated in an event to mark the 69th anniversary of Karen Martyrs’ Day in front of City Hall in Kyauktada Township, Yangon.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Minority Rights, Offline
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 4, 2019
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 9, 2019
- Event Description
Chairwoman of the Karen Women’s Union Naw Ohn Hla has been detained under unlawful assembly charges for organizing a Karen Martyrs’ Day commemoration in Yangon last month without permission.
The long-term land rights and political activist, who herself is ethnic Karen, was arrested on Monday night and brought to the police station in Kyauktada Township, Ko Min Nay Htoo of the Democracy, Peace and Women’s Organization (DPW) said. Naw Ohn Hla also chairs the DPW.
Local authorities banned the use of the term “martyr” in reference to Karen revolutionary leader Saw Ba U Gyi, who was killed on Aug. 12, 1950. His death is commemorated annually as Karen Martyrs’ Day.
The 69th memorial was held—under the banner of Karen Martyrs’ Day—in front of city hall in Kyauktada Township this year. More than 100 people attended the event.
Police from Kyauktada Township opened cases against Naw Ohn Hla and two others under Article 20 of the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law for organizing the unauthorized event.
Ko Min Nay Htoo said the two activists will also face lawsuits when they return, as they are currently out of town.
At a court appearance on Tuesday, Naw Ohn Hla declined to request bail.
“We didn’t do anything wrong. I am not seeking bail as this is unfair. We acted in accordance with the law [by informing authorities about the event in advance],” she told reporters outside the court.
Naw Ohn Hla was sent directly to Insein Prison after the court appearance.
The offenses carry one-month prison sentences, fines or both.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Minority Rights, Offline
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 2, 2019
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 6, 2019
- Event Description
A Kachin rights activist found guilty of violating the Peaceful Assembly Law received an additional sentence of three months in prison on Friday for giving a set of broken scales to a judge in Myitkyina Township Court.
Ko Paul was sentenced to 15 days imprisonment on Sept. 2 for violating Article 19 of the Peaceful Assembly Law. When the sentence was handed down, he gave Judge U Than Tun a set of broken scales to show his dissatisfaction with the sentence.
The judge responded by filing a lawsuit against Ko Paul for disturbing the duties of a civil servant and for insulting and disrespecting the court.
“I gave him broken scales to represent the collapse of the judiciary in this country. The scales of justice in this country are broken. For that, I’ve been sentenced to three months imprisonment. This shows Kachin State, the country and the world that there is no justice,” Ko Paul said after leaving the court and before he was escorted to Myitkyina Prison.
Ko Paul and fellow Kachin activist Ma Seng Nu Pan were sentenced to 15 days imprisonment by the same court on Sept. 2 for organizing a street performance on June 9 to mark the eighth anniversary of the renewal of armed conflict in Kachin State.
Ko Paul’s lawyer U Mar Kha said his client did not interrupt or insult the judge.
“Insulting the judge means swearing. Paul did not do any brutal acts against the court, such as hitting something, kicking or beating the judge. The sentence is unjust. Ko Paul simply criticized the weakness and collapse of the judiciary, he did not insult it,” said U Mar Kha. “If we can’t have the chance to criticize or tell the truth, there will be no rights and we can’t achieve democracy.”
Demands for freedom of assembly and fair trails and complaints about the government’s prosecution and imprisonment of anti-war demonstrators have been mounting in Kachin State. Hundreds of protesters gathered in the state capital on Thursday and called for fair trails for Ko Paul and Ma Seng Nu Pan. They continued the protest on Friday and have plans for one more day of protest.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Myanmar: Two young Burmese leaders sentenced to two-week detention for organising public demonstration
- Date added
- Oct 2, 2019
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Sep 2, 2019
- Event Description
Members of the Students and Youth Congress of Burma (SYCB), an umbrella group of youth organizations from across the country, joined a protest in the Kachin State capital Myitkyina on Monday to demand judicial justice and freedom of expression.
The protest—the latest to be triggered by last week’s sentencing of two young activists found guilty of violating Burma’s Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law for staging an anti-war street performance in June—was organized by local Kachin youth groups.
Paul Lu and Seng Nu Pan, the organizers of the street performance, were both sentenced to 15 days in prison on September 2. Paul Lu later received an extra three months for handing a broken set of scales to the presiding judge in protest at the decision.
Say Pu, the secretary-2 of the SYCB, explained that his group decided to join the Myitkyina protests because it believed the sentence against the two Kachin activists violated their human rights.
“I think this sentence is unfair. [Paul Lu] even received an additional prison term. From a human rights perspective, this is unacceptable. That’s why we joined the protest to show our support,” Say Pu told NMG.
Regarding the reaction of the authorities to SYCB’s presence, Say Pu said that some members of the group had been questioned.
“They asked about our organization, our address, and so on,” he said.
The protesters, who have gathered three times in the past week, said they had four key demands—freedom of speech and expression, a fair and just legal system, understanding of the difficulties of people displaced by conflict, and an end to the civil war as soon as possible.
Twelve ethnic members of SYCB joined the protest in Myitkyina from Yangon.
“We are demanding freedom of expression because we have been denied this basic right. Youths in Yangon and Mandalay have been charged for their struggle for freedom of expression. So how can we speak about how we are suffering? How can we speak about human rights abuses?” Sut Seng Htoi, the spokesperson of the Kachin Youth Movement, said to NMG.
According to Sut Seng Htoi, the participation of SYCB members in the protest is a source of strength for Kachin youths.
“The participation of SYCB is great because these youths have had the experience of being charged by the authorities. We can work together to build a genuine federal democratic country. We can cooperate in non-violent demonstrations, which are a part of democratic culture,” Sut Seng Htoi added.
Meanwhile, the authorities have continued to press charges against activists. At a protest held last Thursday, Kachin activists N’khun La Nu and Malan Hkar Mai were charged by police for holding unauthorized placards.
Nearly 300 people, including Kachin civilians displaced by conflict, members of various Kachin youth groups and civil society organizations, local people, and SYCB members, joined the protest in Myitkyina on Monday.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Myanmar: Two young Burmese leaders sentenced to two-week detention for organising public demonstration
- Date added
- Oct 2, 2019
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 26, 2019
- Event Description
Two Myitkyina News Journal journalists sued six employees of a company on Tuesday after they were allegedly detained in Kachin State's Waingmaw Township and physically abused, over an article published the previous day about an apparent attempt by the company, whose ownership is unclear, to establish an illegal banana plantation. At around 10am on Tuesday, employees of Tha Khin Sit Mining Company asked the two reporters, Moon Moon Pan and Ah Je, to leave the Myitkyina News Journal's office in the Kachin capital Myitkyina and accompany them to their company's compound in Waingmaw, about seven miles from the city, the journal's editor-in-chief Seng Mai Maran told Frontier. She said company employees told the journalists they wanted to discuss the article, published Monday, which cited local residents' concerns about land that they said was being cleared for a banana plantation, by two companies including Tha Khin Sit. Illegally grown tissue culture bananas, almost all of which are exported overland to China, are fuelling land conflict and environmental degradation in Kachin State, as Frontier reported in January. At the company's compound, the journalists were separated, Seng Mai Maran said. She said Ah Je was ordered to complete 100,000 squats and Moon Moon Pan's face was slapped with a copy of the Myitkyina News Journal. Ah Je managed to contact Zaw Khun, the journal's CEO, who went immediately to Waingmaw Township with other staff from the journal. There, they asked a police officer and two local administrators to accompany them to the company's compound. Meanwhile, at 10.56, Seng Mai Maran uploaded a post to the journal's Facebook page which said the two reporters had been detained by the company. She told Frontier that the company's employees saw the post, and asked the reporters to remove it. Salai Khwe Shane, one of the journalists who accompanied Zaw Khun, said that in the compound they talked with the company employees, who denied the allegations in the report, and said the company was not developing a banana plantation. Moon Moon Pan and Ah Je were released about two hours after they were detained, by which time Ah Je had completed about 300 squats, Seng Mai Maran said. The Facebook post was taken down from the Myitkyina News Journal's page at 12.16, and Seng Mai Maran uploaded the same post to her personal Facebook page. When they were released, the reporters went to Waingmaw Township police station to file charges against the company, Seng Mai Maran said. She said they sued six people from the company under sections 114, 294, 323, 341 and 354 of the Penal Code, which cover assault or criminal force to a woman "with intent to outrage her modesty", obscene acts, wrongful restraint, voluntarily causing hurt, and abetment. If convicted, the company employees may face imprisonment and a fine. Frontier was unable to reach the company or the police for comment. "The boy is struggling to walk after having to do three hundred squats," Seng Mai Maran said. "The girl was crying to me on the phone because she was beaten up". A group of journalists from Kachin State published a statement on Wednesday that condemned Tha Khin Sit for abusing the two reporters and for assaulting Moon Moon Pan. They urged the state government to protect journalists, and the right to information, and called for action to be taken against Tha Khin Sit's managing director U Dein Saung. Seng Mai Maran said the nationality of the company's owners is not known, though they are locally believed to be Chinese.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Agricultural business, Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 12, 2019
- Event Description
Myanmar police injured 21 ethnic Karenni protesters Tuesday when they used rubber bullets and a water cannon to break up a demonstration in Kayah state capital's Loikaw over a statue of the father of Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a local protester said. About 5,000 Karenni marched in three columns during the morning protest, demanding that officials remove or relocate a newly inaugurated gold-colored statue of Myanmar independence hero General Aung San from a public park. Ethnic Karenni oppose the erection of the statue because Aung San came from the ethnic Bamar majority that dominates the country and because they believe that the current government should focus on equal rights for ethnic minorities. The protesters also called for the resignation of the eastern state's chief minister and the minister of planning and finance, who local residents believe are responsible for the crisis. Police used rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse the protesters, saying they had crossed the barriers, demonstrator Kyaw Htin Aung told RFA's Myanmar Service. "Police cracked down on one of the columns using water cannons and rubber bullets," he said. "One person was seriously injured in the face." When RFA contacted Loikaw Township Police Chief Win Naing, he refused to comment, saying an official statement would be issued once the situation had settled. Reuters later reported that about two dozen people rallied in Myanmar's commercial hub Yangon in support of protesters in Loikaw and in opposition to the building of Aung San monuments. The latest protest follows other demonstrations by young Karennis last week outside the state headquarters of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party in Loikaw. Dozens were arrested and charged with unlawful assembly, incitement, and defamation. Yanghee Lee, the United Nation's special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, condemned the police violence against the Loikaw protesters. "This is yet another example of the government sidelining the rights of ethnic minorities and failing to truly do what is necessary to unite the country and bring about peace and democracy," she said in a statement issued Tuesday by the U.N.'s human rights office (OHCHR). "The government of Myanmar must respect the right of all people to peacefully assemble and express their views about issues that concern them," she said. "Using disproportionate force against peaceful protesters is entirely unacceptable. The arrests must stop." Some charges dropped At about 3 p.m., eight protest organizers and two journalists from different media outlets were allowed to hold talks with state officials during which the parties reached an agreement that the charges against detained protesters would be dropped, Kyaw Htin Aung said. A total of 86 protesters have been charged, some of them two or three times they were released on bail but then rejoined demonstrators and were re-arrested, he said. "They agreed to drop the cases of 55 people," Kyaw Htin Aung said. "There were also five people who are being charged under Article 20 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law following a protest in support[of building the statue,] so at least, the demand for dropping the cases was successful." Negotiations are still ongoing and are said to include a plan that the committee for erecting the Aung San statue and another committee objecting to it will settle the issue within a month, he added. In the meantime, the protests will be stopped, and the park where the statue is located will be closed during the discussions, he said. The local government is also required not to intervene in the negotiations and to respect the outcome of the talks, Kyaw Htin Aung said. "We want everyone to enter into negotiations whenever a conflict occurs," said NLD party spokesman Myo Nyunt. "But what really happened needs to be known," he added. "A group of people staged a protest against the statue. Likewise, a group of people protested in support of the statue, so we have to see who's reflecting the people's desire." Officials must also determine what led to use of force during the crackdown on protesters, Myo Nyunt said. "We can't make comments on only the information we have at hand," he said. Kayah state officials, including Chief Minister L Paung Sho, were unavailable for comment.
- Impact of Event
- 21
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Use of Excessive Force, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Minority Rights, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 13, 2019
- Event Description
YANGON: Seven Myanmar students were sentenced to three months in jail with hard labour for burning portraits of officials in protest over campus safety, a student activist said Wednesday, the latest draconian response to rippling discontent with authorities. Those jailed were among dozens enacting a mock funeral on December 28 calling for more security at a Mandalay university in central Myanmar after a student's murder near its campus. They burned paper coffins and portraits of the city's chief minister, Myanmar's security and home affairs ministers, and the head of the university, calling for increased security around the students' compound. Three people were arrested during the protest and four others were detained a few days later, when they rallied for their peers' release. The seven students were each sentenced to a total of three months in prison with hard labour for protesting without permission and arson, student leader Ei Mon Khin told AFP by phone from the court. "They will be taken to Obo prison in Mandalay later," she said. Time served will be deducted from their sentences, meaning they face a further one and a half months in jail. This is one of several recent examples of a heavy-handed response to protests by authorities. On Tuesday police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse a crowd of several thousand in eastern Kayah state, the latest in a string of rallies against a statue of Aung San, father of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. He is widely revered by the majority ethnic Bamar (Burmese) population as an independence hero, but is viewed critically among many ethnic minority groups, who see him as a symbol of Bamar domination. Police agreed Tuesday evening to release dozens of arrested protesters in return for a suspension of the rallies while talks take place, state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported, a development welcomed by rights groups. "The Myanmar authorities have a long history of using excessive and lethal force against peaceful protesters," said Fortify Rights CEO Matthew Smith. "The government needs to break the trend now."
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Labour rights, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, Student, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 4, 2019
- Event Description
Police in eastern Myanmar's Kayah state this week broke up protests by ethnic Karenni youths calling for the removal of a newly inaugurated statue of national independence hero General Aung San in the state capital Loikaw, charging dozens with unlawful assembly, a group whose members participated in the demonstrations said. Authorities arrested the protesters on Monday, Thursday, and Friday as they staged sit-ins outside the state headquarters of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party, the Union of Karenni State Youth said on its Facebook page. NLD party supporters plan to celebrate what would have been Aung San's 104th birthday on Feb. 13, according to the Myanmar Times. Three dozen protesters taken into custody on Thursday were later released on bail, the youth group said. Six of them plus another youth activist resumed the protest on Friday were again taken into custody. Those arrested have been charged with violating Article 19 of Myanmar's Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law, which allows public demonstrations only if organizers first obtain permission from local authorities. Some have also been charged with defamation and incitement. Some friends of those who were re-arrested on Friday said those protesters have not yet been freed on bail. Calls by RFA's Myanmar Service to a police station in Loikaw went unanswered. Aung San, father of current State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, played a key role in freeing Myanmar from British colonial rule 70 years ago and in signing a pact with ethnic minority leaders to grant their groups ethnic autonomy within the independent nation. But decades of civil war have prevented successive governments from forming a federal democratic union. Members of the Karenni minority in Kayah state first protested in July 2018 when officials announced that they would erect the expensive bronze statue of Aung San in a public park in Loikaw. They began their protests anew this week in response to the state government's inauguration of the monument to the military leader, who came from the country's ethnic Burman majority. "Young people have respect for General Aung San," said Kyaw Htin Aung from the Union of Karenni State Youth. "[But] it's time now to implement General Aung San's promises," he said. "Opposition to building the statue has emerged because we think the[government's] focus should be on equal rights for ethnic minorities rather than statues." "Totally oppose the plan' Political observer Than Soe Naing asked why officials should erect a statue of Aung San in ethnic minority states like Kayah, which have their own local heroes. "It's damaging to General Aung San's reputation to forcibly build the bronze statue and ignore people's wishes," he said. "I don't think they[officials] should do that." Kwan Gaung Aung Kham, chairman of the Kachin Democratic Party, noted that when officials announced plans to erect a bronze statue of Aung San in northern Myanmar's Kachin state, local political parties issued statements rejecting the move. "But it was ignored, and they built it," he said, adding that additional monuments will also be built. "I totally oppose the plan," he said. "If they keep doing this, there will be more differences between the ethnic groups and the government of Daw[honorific] Aung San Suu Kyi." Myanmar's de facto leader is spearheading the country's sporadic peace talks in a bid to end fighting between ethnic armed groups and the national military and to create a federal system in the country. Myanmar has not guaranteed ethnic people self-determination and autonomous rights since its independence in 1948, said political observer Yan Myo Thein. "That's why we haven't had peace in the country up to now," he said. "It's important to hold talks with leaders of Myanmar civil society organizations, ethnic leaders, and military leaders for building a federal democratic union," he said. "If you consider it like this, then we need to stop building General Aung San's statues in ethnic states without their willingness." Ngo Than Kap of the Chin Progressive Party in western Myanmar's Chin state, said "All of us from ethnic states respect and recognize General Aung San, but it is more important to work on implementing his promises, such as equal rights for ethnic[minorities] and self-determination." "If not, what is the benefit of erecting his statue?" he asked. Dam protest organizer charged Meanwhile, police in Kachin state have arrested the organizer of a mass protest against a controversial dam project held on Thursday, charging her with violating Article 20 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law, according to a local resident. Ja Hkawn helped organize the 10,000-strong rally in the state capital Myitkyina, during which ethnic Kachin activists, political party leaders, civil society groups, and Buddhist monks demanded the complete halt of the Chinese-backed hydropower project. Though the project was suspended in 2011 because of widespread opposition to its expected environmental and social impacts, China has pressed the current NLD government to allow it to resume. Police said protesters were issued a permit to hold the rally, but they did not obtain official permission to use loudspeakers, wear headbands saying "No Myitsone Dam," and make speeches, according to a Myitsone area resident named Lura who participated in the protest. The Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law requires protest organizers not only to notify local authorities of demonstrations in advance, but also to provide information about slogans and speakers. Ja Hkawn's first hearing is set for Feb. 11. She faces a maximum of one month in prison and/or a 10,000-kyat (U.S. $6.50) fine, the online journal The Irrawaddy said. UPDATE: On 13 February 2019, the Karenni State government agreed to drop lawsuits against 55 rights activists charged for their participation in a series of protests over the past year against the installation of a bronze statue of General Aung San in a park in the state capital, Loikaw.
- Impact of Event
- 12
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jun 19, 2019
- Event Description
Myanmar's military has launched legal action against three local journalists following their reporting of a farmer protest in the Kayah State capital, Loikaw. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the action and urges all the charges to be dropped. On 19th June, Captain Aung Myo Tun from Myanmar's military filed a lawsuit with Demoso Township Police Station under Article 12 of the Law Protecting the Privacy of Security and Citizens against 12 people. This included three journalists working for the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), Eleven Media Group, and Kantarawady Times. According to reports, the battalion had taken possession of the village area in 1989 without giving compensation to villagers. The latest protest was staged after the military was said to have taken more land and fenced off the route to the area's farms. The three journalists were producing real-time reports from the scene of the farmer protest, but were allegedly accused of assisting the farmer protest. According to the military, the farmers allegedly trespassed the battalion complex and damaged its fence and a windbreak of trees. Under Myanmar's privacy law, the journalists could face up to five years in prison and a fine of between 500,000 and 2.5 million kyats (USD 330 to USD1600) if found guilty. DVB and Eleven Media have sought the intervention of the Myanmar Press Council. On 25th June, the Myanmar Press Council sent a letter to the military chief advising that the Media Law was the appropriate avenue for resolution of the issue on the media worker's actions, not use of the privacy law. The Media Law requires any grieved parties to seek Press Council mediation before opening a legal case. The IFJ said: "The military must immediately drop all charges in this matter and any complaint should be submitted to the Myanmar Press Council. These reporters were simply doing their job to report from the scene of a protest, but what we have is yet another case of excessive intimidation by law to silence and repress the media."
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Censorship, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 19, 2019