MMR 004 / 0713 / OBS 067.1
Arbitrary detention /
Judicial harassment / Sentencing
Burma/Myanmar
October 2, 2014
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Burma/Myanmar.
New Information:
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the sentencing of Mr. Kyaw Hla Aung, a 75-year old Rohingya human rights defender in Arakan/Rakhine State.
According to the information received, on September 26, 2014, Mr. Kyaw Hla Aung was sentenced by the Sittwe District Court to one year and six months in prison on charges of rioting (Article 147 of the Criminal Code) in connection with a protest held on April 26, 2013, at Thetkalpyin IDP camp in Sittwe Township. However, Mr. Kyaw Hla Aung was not present during the protest and had, in fact, tried to contact camp leaders in order to advise them to keep the demonstration peaceful (see background information).
The Sittwe District Court dropped all other charges, including “injuring a civil servant, interfering with his official duties” (Article 333 of the Criminal Code).
Mr. Kyaw Hla Aung remains detained in Sittwe Prison.
Former United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma Tomás Ojea Quintana, who repeatedly called for Mr. Kyaw Hla Aung’s release, described him as a prisoner of conscience and said his detention was arbitrary. Mr. Kyaw Hla Aung suffers from hypertension and stomach problems that require regular medication.
The Observatory deplores the sentencing and continued arbitrary detention of Mr. Kyaw Hla Aung, which seem aimed at sanctioning his peaceful human rights activities.
Background information:
In 1986, Mr. Kyaw Hla Aung was imprisoned for two years for writing an appeal to the authorities on behalf of local farmers whose land had been confiscated. In 1990, he was arrested during a crackdown on Rohingya activists and spent the next 10 years in jail. In June 2012, Government authorities detained him, along with several other Rohingya aid workers, for his alleged involvement in the sectarian unrest that hit Arakan State. He was released in August 2012.
Mr. Kyaw Hla Aung was re-arrested on July 15, 2013 by police officers in Sittwe Township. He was arbitrarily detained without charges at Sittwe Police Station No. 1 and denied access to his family and lawyers.
On July 31, 2013, Mr. Kyaw Hla Aung appeared before the Sittwe District Court to answer charges of inciting a protest against a government-led exercise to collect population data on April 26, 2013 at Thetkalpyin Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Sittwe Township.
On April 26, 2013, the local government of Arakan/Rakhine State undertook a survey of Muslim IDPs in Sittwe Township in order to provide the authorities with population data. The authorities required Muslim Rohingya to be recorded as “Bengalis”, a derogatory term that the government routinely uses to describe Rohingya.
After some members of the community contested being called “Bengali”, violence ensued. Clashes between Rohingya IDPs and immigration officials during the protests forced the authorities to suspend the registration process.
The April 26-related events have since been used as a pretext to falsely prosecute Mr. Kyaw Hla Aung.
Information Source : omct.org
Image Source : burmatimes.net
