Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-112-2010
30 July 2010
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BURMA: A young man is unlawfully detained and accused over a bombing
ISSUES: Administration of justice; torture; arbitrary arrest and detention; fabrication of charges; right to fair trial
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U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
ALRC SPECIAL REPORT ON BURMA
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Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) previously issued a statement on the case of Phyo Wai Aung, whom the authorities in Burma have blamed for an attack on a festival in April. In this appeal we bring you the details of his case and the charges that have now been brought against him. His trial is ongoing.
CASE NARRATIVE:
As the AHRC wrote in its statement (Conviction by press conference--the case of Phyo Wai Aung), on May 6 the police chief of Burma announced that his force had arrested one of four persons involved in the April 15 water festival blasts in Rangoon that officially killed 10 and injured 168. The police chief said that the accused person, 30-year-old Phyo Wai Aung, had confessed to being among those responsible, and that he was connected to exiled groups based in Thailand.
The police arrested Phyo Wai Aung on the same day as the attack, and have accused him of being one of five persons involved in the plot – the others having escaped. Charges were then taken against him over the explosions, as well as for allegedly having had contact with outlawed groups abroad.
The police held Phyo Wai Aung for over a month without laying any charges, during which time they allegedly tortured him to obtain a confession. They searched his house but did not find any evidence to connect him to the crime. Eyewitnesses have said that they did not see him at the scene when the incident occurred.
Shortly after the police arrested Phyo Wai Aung, his family hired a lawyer to represent him; however, the police refused to allow the lawyer to meet with his client. Finally, the lawyer was able to meet with him only when the case began in a special court inside the central prison on 14 July 2010. However the family of Phyo Wai Aung has been prevented from attend the hearings, we are told, on instruction from the Special Branch police.
Further details of the case are in the sample letter below, as usual.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
In recent years, government-held press conferences have been a platform for an escalating number of persons accused in concocted cases over bomb plots, including U Myint Aye, the founder of local group Human Rights Defenders and Promoters (UAC: Three innocent men are tortured into confessing to a bomb plot). Myint Aye and his two co-defendants also alleged that they had been tortured during interrogation.
Such was the experience of Zaw Lwin, a.k.a. Nyi Nyi Aung, in September 2009, who was arrested as he disembarked from a flight from Bangkok (UAU: Activist due to be sentenced over alleged bombing plot ). An American citizen, Kyaw Zaw Lwin was released and deported after high-level interventions, but has since described his torture in custody.
Most recently, the AHRC issued an appeal on the case of Than Myint Aung, who was initially accused over a minor explosion in March 2009, but against whom the police subsequently shifted charges to other offences (UAC: A man is severely tortured for a month at Rangoon police headquarters and sentenced to 15 years in prison ).
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
All urgent appeals on Burma can be accessed by going to the appeals homepage and typing "Burma" or "Myanmar" into the search box: http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/. For further discussion see articles and special reports on the article 2 website:http://www.article2.org/search.php again search for Burma/Myanmar; and, see the 2009 AHRC annual report on Burma.
The Asian Legal Resource Centre recently released a special report on rule of law and human rights issues in Burma in the lead up to the Universal Periodic Review process for the country at the United Nations in Geneva. The report and annexe are available on the ALRC website at: http://www.alrc.net/doc/mainfile.php/upr/ (scroll to bottom of page).
The AHRC Burmese-language blog is updated constantly for Burmese-language readers, and covers the contents of urgent appeal cases, related news, and special analysis pieces.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the persons listed below to call for the release of Phyo Wai Aung. Please note that for the purpose of the letter, the country should be referred to by its official title of Myanmar, rather than Burma, and Rangoon, Yangon.
Please be informed that the AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteurs on Myanmar, on the independence of judges and lawyers, and on torture; the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; and the regional human rights office for Southeast Asia, calling for interventions into this case.
To support this appeal please click here:
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear ___________,
MYANMAR: Illegal detention, baseless charges and alleged torture of man accused over bombing
Details of accused: Ko Phyo Wai Aung, a.k.a. Mohammad Sharvan, 31, construction contractor, resident of Ward 2, Pazundaung Township, Yangon, Myanmar
Date of arrest: 15 May 2010
Officials involved:
1. Police Major Aung Swe, Serial No. La/58844, Special Branch
2. Police Captain Win Maung, Serial No. La/128431, Operations Department, Special Branch
3. Inspector Aung Naing Oo, Serial No. La/139281
4. Inspector Saw Aung, Serial No. La/128627, Special Branch, Thanlyin
5. Inspector Kyaw Sein Win, Serial No. La/127321, Underground Unit, Internal Affairs Department, Special Branch
6. Inspector Htun Soe Thein, Serial No. La/139240, detective, Prosecution Department, Special Branch
7. Inspector Thaung Ngwe, Serial No. La/65715, Mingalar-taungnyunt Township Police
8. Township Judge U Win Swe, Hlaing Township Court, Yangon
9. Maung Maung Aye, Myawaddy District Immigration and National Registration Department
Charges and trial: Unlawful Associations Act, 1908, section 17(1); Immigration (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1947, section 13(1); Penal Code, sections 302, 307, 326 read with 114 (abetting murder, attempted murder and hurt); Explosive Substances Act, 1908, section 3, Yangon Western District Court, Criminal Case Nos. 102-104/10
I am writing to express my concern over the arrest, imprisonment, trial and alleged torture of a man in Myanmar over the April 15 blasts at the water festival in Yangon that officially killed 10 and injured 168.
According to the information that I have received, the police arrested Ko Phyo Wai Aung on the same day as the attack, and have accused him of being one of five persons involved in the plot (the others are described as having absconded) and have laid charges against him over the explosions as well as for allegedly having had contact with outlawed groups abroad.
While I acknowledge and respect the responsibility that the police and other authorities in Myanmar have for bringing the persons culpable for the explosions to justice, I am gravely concerned that Phyo Wai Aung's fundamental human rights have already been grossly violated and I do not believe that he can obtain a fair trial. My concerns include the following:
1. On 6 May 2010 before any charges were brought against Phyo Wai Aung, the chief of the Myanmar Police Force, Brigadier General Khin Yi, gave a press conference which was reported in the official New Light of Myanmar newspaper the next day under the headline "MPF apprehends one of the offenders" in which he set out the accused man's alleged role in the bomb plot as a matter of fact and described him as a terrorist. In light of the contents of this press conference, it is obvious that Phyo Wai Aung has already been found guilty before he has been tried in any court.
2. Shortly after the police arrested Phyo Wai Aung, his family hired a lawyer to represent him; however, the Special Branch refused to allow the lawyer to meet with his client. Finally, the lawyer was able to meet with him only when the case began in court on 14 July 2010.
3. The case is being heard inside the Insein Central Prison, in violation of the Judiciary Law 2000, which provides for open trial; reportedly, not even the family of Phyo Wai Aung has been able to attend the hearings, on instruction from the Special Branch police, even though only the presiding judge has the authority to decide who can or cannot sit in the court.
4. The police held Phyo Wai Aung for over a month without laying charges, during which time according to the accused they tortured him and obtained a confession by force; however, the court has not entertained his allegations, even though they are consistent with those of other persons detained over alleged involvement in bombings. None of the material evidence accepted from the police by the court was obtained from the accused man's house or from among his personal property; however, eyewitnesses who deny seeing him at the site and time of the blast as the police allege, have not been called to appear.
In view of the above I do not believe that Phyo Wai Aung can obtain a fair trial and I urge that the concerned Yangon Western District Law Office drop the cases against him. I also call for a special inquiry into his allegations of torture; and into the reasons that his lawyer was denied access to him for over three months, and that his family has been prohibited from attending the trial.
Furthermore, I urge that in similar cases of this sort in the future, the chief of the Myanmar Police Force refrain from the holding of press conferences in which people who have not been tried for any crime are already declared guilty of some offence, because such press conferences effectively serve as notices of conviction of accused persons even before they have been heard in court.
Lastly, I take this opportunity to remind the Government of Myanmar of the need to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross access to places of detention as a matter of the utmost urgency. I can see no reason as to why the government has failed to agree to the ICRC mission in accordance with the terms of its international mandate and has for the last few years refused it access. The persistent refusal to allow the ICRC access to detainees like Phyo Wai Aung is one of the reasons that Myanmar's international reputation remains among the worst in the world, and it will continue to be that way until the Government of Myanmar changes its position on this matter.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Maj-Gen. (Retd.) Maung Oo
Minister for Home Affairs
Ministry of Home Affairs
Office No. 10
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: +95 67 412 079/ 549 393/ 549 663
Fax: +95 67 412 439
2. Lt-Gen. (Retd.) Thein Sein
Prime Minister
c/o Ministry of Defence
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: + 95 1 372 681
Fax: + 95 1 652 624
3. U Aung Toe
Chief Justice
Office of the Supreme Court
Office No. 24
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: + 95 67 404 080/ 071/ 078/ 067 or + 95 1 372 145
Fax: + 95 67 404 059
4. U Aye Maung
Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Office No. 25
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: +95 67 404 088/ 090/ 092/ 094/ 097
Fax: +95 67 404 146/ 106
5. Brig-Gen. Khin Yi
Director General
Myanmar Police Force
Ministry of Home Affairs
Office No. 10
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: +95 67 412 079/ 549 393/ 549 663
Fax: +951 549 663 / 549 208
6. U Myat Ko
Secretary of Myanmar Human Rights Group
Director-General, General Administration Department
Ministry of Home Affairs
Office No. 10, Naypyitaw, MYANMAR CASE NARRATIVE:
As the AHRC wrote in its statement (Conviction by press conference--the case of Phyo Wai Aung), on May 6 the police chief of Burma announced that his force had arrested one of four persons involved in the April 15 water festival blasts in Rangoon that officially killed 10 and injured 168. The police chief said that the accused person, 30-year-old Phyo Wai Aung, had confessed to being among those responsible, and that he was connected to exiled groups based in Thailand.
The police arrested Phyo Wai Aung on the same day as the attack, and have accused him of being one of five persons involved in the plot – the others having escaped. Charges were then taken against him over the explosions, as well as for allegedly having had contact with outlawed groups abroad.
The police held Phyo Wai Aung for over a month without laying any charges, during which time they allegedly tortured him to obtain a confession. They searched his house but did not find any evidence to connect him to the crime. Eyewitnesses have said that they did not see him at the scene when the incident occurred.
Shortly after the police arrested Phyo Wai Aung, his family hired a lawyer to represent him; however, the police refused to allow the lawyer to meet with his client. Finally, the lawyer was able to meet with him only when the case began in a special court inside the central prison on 14 July 2010. However the family of Phyo Wai Aung has been prevented from attend the hearings, we are told, on instruction from the Special Branch police.
Further details of the case are in the sample letter below, as usual.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
In recent years, government-held press conferences have been a platform for an escalating number of persons accused in concocted cases over bomb plots, including U Myint Aye, the founder of local group Human Rights Defenders and Promoters (UAC: Three innocent men are tortured into confessing to a bomb plot). Myint Aye and his two co-defendants also alleged that they had been tortured during interrogation.
Such was the experience of Zaw Lwin, a.k.a. Nyi Nyi Aung, in September 2009, who was arrested as he disembarked from a flight from Bangkok (UAU: Activist due to be sentenced over alleged bombing plot ). An American citizen, Kyaw Zaw Lwin was released and deported after high-level interventions, but has since described his torture in custody.
Most recently, the AHRC issued an appeal on the case of Than Myint Aung, who was initially accused over a minor explosion in March 2009, but against whom the police subsequently shifted charges to other offences (UAC: A man is severely tortured for a month at Rangoon police headquarters and sentenced to 15 years in prison ).
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
All urgent appeals on Burma can be accessed by going to the appeals homepage and typing "Burma" or "Myanmar" into the search box: http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/. For further discussion see articles and special reports on the article 2 website:http://www.article2.org/search.php again search for Burma/Myanmar; and, see the 2009 AHRC annual report on Burma.
The Asian Legal Resource Centre recently released a special report on rule of law and human rights issues in Burma in the lead up to the Universal Periodic Review process for the country at the United Nations in Geneva. The report and annexe are available on the ALRC website at: http://www.alrc.net/doc/mainfile.php/upr/ (scroll to bottom of page).
The AHRC Burmese-language blog is updated constantly for Burmese-language readers, and covers the contents of urgent appeal cases, related news, and special analysis pieces.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the persons listed below to call for the release of Phyo Wai Aung. Please note that for the purpose of the letter, the country should be referred to by its official title of Myanmar, rather than Burma, and Rangoon, Yangon.
Please be informed that the AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteurs on Myanmar, on the independence of judges and lawyers, and on torture; the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; and the regional human rights office for Southeast Asia, calling for interventions into this case.
To support this appeal please click here:
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear ___________,
MYANMAR: Illegal detention, baseless charges and alleged torture of man accused over bombing
Details of accused: Ko Phyo Wai Aung, a.k.a. Mohammad Sharvan, 31, construction contractor, resident of Ward 2, Pazundaung Township, Yangon, Myanmar
Date of arrest: 15 May 2010
Officials involved:
1. Police Major Aung Swe, Serial No. La/58844, Special Branch
2. Police Captain Win Maung, Serial No. La/128431, Operations Department, Special Branch
3. Inspector Aung Naing Oo, Serial No. La/139281
4. Inspector Saw Aung, Serial No. La/128627, Special Branch, Thanlyin
5. Inspector Kyaw Sein Win, Serial No. La/127321, Underground Unit, Internal Affairs Department, Special Branch
6. Inspector Htun Soe Thein, Serial No. La/139240, detective, Prosecution Department, Special Branch
7. Inspector Thaung Ngwe, Serial No. La/65715, Mingalar-taungnyunt Township Police
8. Township Judge U Win Swe, Hlaing Township Court, Yangon
9. Maung Maung Aye, Myawaddy District Immigration and National Registration Department
Charges and trial: Unlawful Associations Act, 1908, section 17(1); Immigration (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1947, section 13(1); Penal Code, sections 302, 307, 326 read with 114 (abetting murder, attempted murder and hurt); Explosive Substances Act, 1908, section 3, Yangon Western District Court, Criminal Case Nos. 102-104/10
I am writing to express my concern over the arrest, imprisonment, trial and alleged torture of a man in Myanmar over the April 15 blasts at the water festival in Yangon that officially killed 10 and injured 168.
According to the information that I have received, the police arrested Ko Phyo Wai Aung on the same day as the attack, and have accused him of being one of five persons involved in the plot (the others are described as having absconded) and have laid charges against him over the explosions as well as for allegedly having had contact with outlawed groups abroad.
While I acknowledge and respect the responsibility that the police and other authorities in Myanmar have for bringing the persons culpable for the explosions to justice, I am gravely concerned that Phyo Wai Aung's fundamental human rights have already been grossly violated and I do not believe that he can obtain a fair trial. My concerns include the following:
1. On 6 May 2010 before any charges were brought against Phyo Wai Aung, the chief of the Myanmar Police Force, Brigadier General Khin Yi, gave a press conference which was reported in the official New Light of Myanmar newspaper the next day under the headline "MPF apprehends one of the offenders" in which he set out the accused man's alleged role in the bomb plot as a matter of fact and described him as a terrorist. In light of the contents of this press conference, it is obvious that Phyo Wai Aung has already been found guilty before he has been tried in any court.
2. Shortly after the police arrested Phyo Wai Aung, his family hired a lawyer to represent him; however, the Special Branch refused to allow the lawyer to meet with his client. Finally, the lawyer was able to meet with him only when the case began in court on 14 July 2010.
3. The case is being heard inside the Insein Central Prison, in violation of the Judiciary Law 2000, which provides for open trial; reportedly, not even the family of Phyo Wai Aung has been able to attend the hearings, on instruction from the Special Branch police, even though only the presiding judge has the authority to decide who can or cannot sit in the court.
4. The police held Phyo Wai Aung for over a month without laying charges, during which time according to the accused they tortured him and obtained a confession by force; however, the court has not entertained his allegations, even though they are consistent with those of other persons detained over alleged involvement in bombings. None of the material evidence accepted from the police by the court was obtained from the accused man's house or from among his personal property; however, eyewitnesses who deny seeing him at the site and time of the blast as the police allege, have not been called to appear.
In view of the above I do not believe that Phyo Wai Aung can obtain a fair trial and I urge that the concerned Yangon Western District Law Office drop the cases against him. I also call for a special inquiry into his allegations of torture; and into the reasons that his lawyer was denied access to him for over three months, and that his family has been prohibited from attending the trial.
Furthermore, I urge that in similar cases of this sort in the future, the chief of the Myanmar Police Force refrain from the holding of press conferences in which people who have not been tried for any crime are already declared guilty of some offence, because such press conferences effectively serve as notices of conviction of accused persons even before they have been heard in court.
Lastly, I take this opportunity to remind the Government of Myanmar of the need to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross access to places of detention as a matter of the utmost urgency. I can see no reason as to why the government has failed to agree to the ICRC mission in accordance with the terms of its international mandate and has for the last few years refused it access. The persistent refusal to allow the ICRC access to detainees like Phyo Wai Aung is one of the reasons that Myanmar's international reputation remains among the worst in the world, and it will continue to be that way until the Government of Myanmar changes its position on this matter.
Yours sincerely,
----------------
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Maj-Gen. (Retd.) Maung Oo
Minister for Home Affairs
Ministry of Home Affairs
Office No. 10
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: +95 67 412 079/ 549 393/ 549 663
Fax: +95 67 412 439
2. Lt-Gen. (Retd.) Thein Sein
Prime Minister
c/o Ministry of Defence
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: + 95 1 372 681
Fax: + 95 1 652 624
3. U Aung Toe
Chief Justice
Office of the Supreme Court
Office No. 24
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: + 95 67 404 080/ 071/ 078/ 067 or + 95 1 372 145
Fax: + 95 67 404 059
4. U Aye Maung
Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Office No. 25
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: +95 67 404 088/ 090/ 092/ 094/ 097
Fax: +95 67 404 146/ 106
5. Brig-Gen. Khin Yi
Director General
Myanmar Police Force
Ministry of Home Affairs
Office No. 10
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: +95 67 412 079/ 549 393/ 549 663
Fax: +951 549 663 / 549 208
6. U Myat Ko
Secretary of Myanmar Human Rights Group
Director-General, General Administration Department
Ministry of Home Affairs
Tel: +95 67 412 079/ 549 393/ 549 663
Fax: +95 67 412 439
umyatko@myanmar.com.mm
7. U Kyaw Tint Swe
Representative of Myanmar to the ASEAN
Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights
10 EAST 77th STREET,
NEW YORK, N.Y.1005, U.S.A
Tel No: (212) 744-1475, 744-1279
FACSIMILE: (1) (212) 744-1290
myanmarmission@verizon.net
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Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) (ua@ahrchk.org)
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