Myanmar (Burma)
16.12.16
Urgent Interventions

Murder of journalist and land rights defender Soe Moe Tun

MMR 002 / 1216 / OBS 109

Murder

Burma

December 16, 2016

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, apartnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requestsyour urgent intervention in the following situation in Burma.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the murderof Mr. Soe Moe Tun, a journalist with the Eleven Media Group, a company that own several news outlets inBurma, including the Daily Elevennewspaper. Mr. Soe Moe Tun was known for his investigative work on illegallogging and timber smuggling in several areas of Sagaing Region, includingMonywa and Sagaing Townships.

According to the information received, on the morning of December 13,2016, the body of Mr. Soe Moe Tun was found on the side of Pyidaungsu Road nearthe Monywa golf course in Monywa, Sagaing Division. Bruises, wounds on hishead, and an apparently fractured skull led police to believe Mr. Soe Moe Tun wasbeaten to death with a blunt object.

Shortly before his death, on December 7, 2016, Mr. Soe Moe Tun hadwritten a Facebook post that includeda list of individuals who were allegedly tied to the illegal timber trade inSagaing Region.

On December 13, 2016, police in Monywa opened a murder investigation inconnection with Mr. Soe Moe Tun’s death. Preliminary evidence gathered by thepolice appears to show that the killing was intentional and premeditated, andmay have involved at least two people. At the time of publication of this UrgentAppeal, no arrests had been made in connection with Mr. Soe Moe Tun’s murder.

The Observatory expresses his deepest concern over the unsafeenvironment for human rights defenders in Burma. The Observatory recalls thatMr. Soe Moe Tun’s death is the second killing of individuals working on landand natural resources in the country within a month, following the murder ofKaren woman human rights defender Ms. ChitPandaing, better known as “EhPaw Tel”[1].

TheObservatory urges the Burmese authorities to conduct a swift, thorough,impartial, and transparent investigation into the death of Mr. Soe Moe Tun.

It also calls on the authorities to adopt effective measures to ensurethe protection of human rights defenders, including land and environmentalrights defenders, in Burma.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities of Burma asking them to:

i. Carry out an immediate, thorough, impartial, and transparentinvestigation into the murder of Mr. SoeMoe Tun in order to identify all those responsible, bring them before anindependent tribunal, and sanction them as provided by the law;

ii. Guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical and psychologicalintegrity of all human rights defenders in Burma;

iii. Comply with all the provisions of the UN Declaration on HumanRights Defenders, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9,1998, in particular with its Articles 1 and 12.2;

iv. Guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms inaccordance with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

Addresses:

U Htin Kyaw, President; Fax: +95 1 652 624

• Lt Gen KyawSwe, Minister for Home Affairs; Fax: +95 67 412 439; Email: mohamyanmar@gmail.com

• Daw Aung SanSuu Kyi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fax: +9567 412396

• U Win Mra,Chairman of the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission; Email: chmyanmarnhrc@gmail.com

• U Tun Tun Oo,Union Attorney General; Email: ago.h.o@mptmail.net.mm

• Maj Gen ZawWin, Director General, Myanmar Police Force, Ministry of Home Affairs, Fax: +9567 412006; Email: mpfserver@gmail.com

• HE Mr. HtinLynn, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative tothe United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Fax: +41 22 732 89 19, +41 22 732 7377, Email: mission@myanmargeneva.org

• Embassy ofMyanmar in Brussels, Belgium, Fax: +32 2 705 50 48, Email: mebrussels@skynet.be

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

***

Paris-Geneva, December 16, 2016

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

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (theObservatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and OMCT. The objective of thisprogramme is to prevent or remedy situations of repression against humanrights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu,the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented byinternational civil society.

[1] See Observatory Urgent Appeal MMR 001/1216/OBS 108,published on December 15, 2016.