• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
26.11.09 15:32BURMA: Government-backed gang attacks human rights defendersSeite 1 von 5http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2007/2349/
Asian Human Rights Commission - Urgent Appeals
|
Main
|
Archives
|
Subscribe to Mailing List
|
AHRC Home
|
 
Search thissection:
->
AdvancedSearch
PrinterFriendlyVersion
BURMA: Government-backed gang attacks human rightsdefenders
URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTIONASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM19 April 2007---------------------------------------------------------------------UA-135-2007: BURMA: Government-backed gang attacks human rights defendersBURMA: Assault; impunity; un-rule of law---------------------------------------------------------------------Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received details from the Yoma-3News Service (Thailand) and other sources that a gang organised by local authoritiesyesterday attacked a group of human rights defenders in Burma. On April 18 the smallgroup was leaving a village near Rangoon when they were brutally attacked by around50 persons, apparently with the backing of the local authorities, including the counciland police.
 The AHRC is still receiving thelatest information on this case,but according to what is availableso far, on 17 April 2007 the four men had travelled to Henzadatownship, about 30 miles west of Rangoon, for a human rightseducation session. They carriedwith them documents like theUniversal Declaration of HumanRights and the Convention on theRights of the Child, which Burmahas signed. They were joined bysome active villagers from thearea and in total there were aboutten persons in the group.At about 12:30pm on April 18, thegroup set out from Oatpone toanother nearby village on twomotorcycles. As they werepassing the Buddhist monastery on the outskirts of the village, a gang of around 50 persons came on to the road withslingshots and sticks to assault them. The first motorcycle could escape, but the secondmotorcycle, carrying Ko Maung Maung Lay and Ko Myint Naing, was stopped and the two menencircled and beaten up.The attack was broken by a pick-up truck carrying some monks. The two injured men were putonto the vehicle and taken to Taluttaw police station, from where they were transferred toHenzada Township Hospital. Myint Naing was found to be seriously injured, with six incisions tohis head, and suffering concussion. Maung Maung Lay had minor injuries to the head. Their bodies also had minor injuries all over them caused by the beating and slingshot pellets. The
 
26.11.09 15:32BURMA: Government-backed gang attacks human rights defendersSeite 2 von 5http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2007/2349/
two victims were transferred for emergency treatment and x-rays at the intensive care unit inRangoon around 10pm that night.Meanwhile, another two persons, Ko TinMaung Oo and Ko Yin Kyi, also werereportedly attacked and transferred tohospital in Rangoon with severe injuries;however, full details are not yet availableconcerning them.After the assault, back in Oatpone villagethere were announcements broadcastover the public loudspeaker that there wasa curfew declared until 6pm by order of the village tract council chairman.According to local sources, the attack wasallegedly organised by executives of thegovernment mass-movement organisation, the Union Solidarity and Development Association(USDA). During the night that the group stayed at Oatpone village, a USDA township official,local police officers and at least one officer from the police special branch also came to staythere. In the morning it was reported that an official from the township council came too. Theattackers are alleged to have been USDA members, and police and security forces in plainclothes.Other human rights defenders are collecting full details of the incidents and intend to lodgecriminal complaints in the coming days. They have said that the attack is clearly intended as awarning to them to stop their work; however, they will not do so.BACKGROUND INFORMATION:This is not the first time thatgangs have been allegedlyorganised by the USDA to attackhuman rights defenders andothers in Burma. The USDA hasbeen accused of being behindthe notorious 2003 Depayinmassacre, in which a convoycarrying democracy party leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi wasviolently attacked, leading tomany deaths and serious injuries.The Asian Legal ResourceCentre released areportinDecember 2003 on themassacre, which can bedownloaded here:http://www.article2.org/pdf/v02n06.pdf . The report of the ad hoc commission on the massacre,organised by the Burma Lawyers Council, can be read here:http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/Depayin_Massacre.pdf . The USDA has a great deal of power and is also known to have been involved in covering up killings and abuses by local officials,such as the recent beating to death of Ko Naing Oo in a Rangoon suburb this March (UA-096-2007). The patron of the association is the head of the military junta, Senior General ThanShwe.See also the2006 AHRC Human Rights Reportchapter onBurma, and visit the AHRC Burma homepage:http://burma.ahrchk.net.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
 
26.11.09 15:32BURMA: Government-backed gang attacks human rights defendersSeite 3 von 5http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2007/2349/
Please write to the Minister of Home Affairs and other concerned persons below calling for animmediate investigation into this attack. Please note that for the purpose of the letter, thecountry should be referred to by its official title of Myanmar, rather than Burma, and Rangoonas Yangon.Sample letter:Dear ___________,
MYANMAR: Government-organised gang attacks human rights defenders in HenzadaTownshipNames of victims:
 1. Ko Myint Naing, member, Human Rights Defenders & Promoters (HRDP)2. Ko Maung Maung Lay, member, HRDP3. Ko Tin Maung Oo, member, HRDP4. Ko Yin Kyi, resident of Henzada Township, Ayeyarwaddy Division
Alleged perpetrators:
 1. U Nyunt Oo, Secretary, Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), HenzadaTownship2. Ne Lin Soe, Special Branch3. Deputy Superintendent Than Taik, Station Commander, Myanmar Police Force, Taluttawvillage, Henzada Township4. Around 50 persons armed with sticks and slingshots
Date of incident:
18 April 2007
Place of incident:
Oatpone-Taluttaw road, near Oatpone village, Henzada Township,Ayeyarwaddy DivisionI am writing to express my serious concern at the attack on human rights defenders inHenzada Township, Myanmar on 18 April 2007, and especially reports that the secretary of thetownship Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) organised the attack, as wellas to call for your intervention.According to the information that I have received so far, at about 12:30pm on April 18 a groupof five persons who had been involved in a human rights training session in Oatpone villagewere travelling out in the direction of Taluttaw when they were set upon by about 50 personswith slingshots and sticks, in the vicinity of the Buddhist monastery. Two men travelling on thesecond motorcycle, Ko Maung Maung Lay and Ko Myint Naing, were seriously injured. Theywere transferred to Taluttaw police station, then Henzada Township Hospital, and from there,for intensive care and x-rays in Yangon. Myint Naing was seriously injured, with six incisions tohis head, and suffering concussion. Maung Maung Lay had minor injuries to the head. Their bodies also had minor injuries all over them caused by the beating and slingshot pellets.I am also informed that two local residents, Ko Tin Maung Oo and Ko Yin Kyi, were likewiseattacked and transferred to hospital in Yangon some time after the first incident.After the assault, the Kanyinngu Village Tract Peace and Development Council chairmanbroadcast an order over public loudspeaker that the village of Oatpone was under curfew until6pm.I am aware that the attack was allegedly organised by the secretary of the Henzada USDA, UNyunt Oo, apparently in collusion with police and council officials. During the night U Nyunt Ooand other USDA members are reported to have stayed in the village, along with the policestation commander from Taluttaw village, Deputy Superintendent Than Taik and hissubordinates, and an officer of the Special Branch police, named Ne Lin Soe. The secretary of the Henzada Township Peace and Development Council is reported to have visited in themorning. The attackers are alleged to have comprised of USDA members, police and securityofficers in plain clothes.I am aware that the victims of the assault are intending to lodge criminal complaints against thealleged parties. I urge you to ensure that there is a full and proper special investigation by the
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...