Arbitrary detention of Mr. Nyi Nyi Htwe

Burma

October 31, 2008

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Burma.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the sentencing of Mr. Nyi Nyi Htwe, a human rights lawyer, to six months in prison.

According to the information received, on October 30, 2008, Mr. Nyi Nyi Htwe was sentenced by the Rangoon Northern District Court six months in prison for “interruption and insulting the judiciary proceeding”, under the Section 228 of the Penal Code. He was sentenced along with three defendants whom he represents on trial. They were not allowed to have legal representatives. When Mr. Nyi Nyi Htwe asked the judge to allow him to make his own defence, the judge scolded him and threatened him with another lawsuit.

They were all sent to the Insein Prison, where they remain detained.

However, as Mr. Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min, another human rights lawyer, failed to appear on October 30, 2008 before the court, he was still at large as of issuing this urgent appeal.

The Observatory expresses its deepest concern regarding Mr. Nyi Nyi Htwe’s arbitrary detention, which evidences the extremely repressive environment for human rights defenders in the country, and recalls that according to the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels” (Article 1).

Background information:

Mr. Nyi Nyi Htwe was arrested on October 29, 2008 by the police due to his participation in the defence of 11 youth members from Hlaing Thar Yar Township, Rangoon, of the National League for Democracy (NLD).

Mr. Nyi Nyi Htwe and Mr. Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min are the defence lawyers of the 11 NLD young protesters who were arrested in September 2008 for having peacefully marched towards the Shwe Dagon Pagoda on June 19, 2007, on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday, wearing T-shirts with a picture of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on them. The 11 were arrested during their march and released on the next day by the authorities. One year later, they were arrested again, charged with an offense for instigation to public unrest, and brought to trial before the Hlaing Thar Yar Township Court.

The 11 defendants and their two lawyers submitted a complaint to the judge to address the violations of their rights, as, since the beginning of the trial, their lawyers have not been allowed to meet with their clients in private, the judge have not allowed them sufficient time to make counter questions against the prosecution witnesses, and their family members have not been allowed to attend the court hearings. Reportedly, the police and some plain-cloth persons have also been taking pictures and recording their voices during these hearings.

During the trial, three defendants, Messrs. Yan Naing Tun, Myo Kyaw Zin and Aung Min Naing (aka) Mee Thwe argued that they were released in June 2007 by the authorities, who claimed then that the authorities considered them as sons and daughters and gave them great forgiveness. Therefore, these three defendants requested the judge to summon Maj-Gen Maung Oo (Minister of Home Affairs) and Brig-Gen Khin Yee (Chief of Police) as their defence witnesses. The judge refused to their request and asked their lawyers, Messrs. Nyi Nyi Htwe and Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min to control their clients. The two lawyers answered that they were to follow instruction made by their clients. Then the Prosecutor decide to sue the two lawyers along with Messrs. Yan Naing Tun, Myo Kyaw Zin and Aung Min Naing (aka) Mee Thwe, under Section 228 of the Penal Code[1] and issued a warrant to arrest Messrs. Nyi Nyi Htwe and Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min. Therefore, Mr. Nyi Nyi Htwe was arrested.

Action requested:

Please write to the Burmese authorities urging them to:

1. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Nyi Nyi Htwe and Mr. Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min;
2. Release Mr. Nyi Nyi Htwe immediately and unconditionally since his detention is arbitrary as it merely aims at sanctioning his human rights activities;
3. Put an end to all acts of harassment - including at the judicial level - against Mr. Nyi Nyi Htwe and Mr. Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min as well as against all human rights defenders in Burma;
4. Conform with above-mentioned Article 1 of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, as well as with Article 12.2, which states that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the [...] Declaration”;
5. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by Burma.

Addresses:

• Mr. Aye Maung, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, 101 Pansodan Street, Kyauktada Township, Yangon, Myanmar, Fax: + 95 1 371 028/ 282 449 / 282 990
• Lt Sein Thein, Prime Minister, c/o Ministry of Defence, Signal Pagoda Road, Yangon, Myanmar, Tel: + 95 1 372 681; Fax: + 95 1 652 624
• Minister for Home Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, No. 10 Naypyidaw, Myanmar; Tel: +95 67 412 040/ 069/ 072; Fax: +95 67 412 016/ 439; E-mail: ddg.gad@gad.gov.mm
• Permanent Mission of Myanmar to the United Nations in Geneva, 47 avenue Blanc, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, Tel: + 41 22 906 98 70; Fax: + 41 22 732 89 19; Email: mission.myanmar@ties.itu.int
• Embassy of Myanmar in Brussels, 9 boulevard Général Wahis, 1030 Schaerbeek, Brussels, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 705.50.48.

Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Burma in your respective countries.

Geneva - Paris, October 31, 2008

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need. The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

[1] “Whoever intentionally offers any insult, or causes any interruption to any public servant, while such public servant is sifting in any state of a judicial proceeding, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both”.