Myanmar (Burma)
01.02.02
Urgent Interventions
Myanmar: arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention of Dr. Salai Tan Thun by Burmese security officials in Rangoon (Yangon),
Case MMR 010202
Arbitrary arrest/Incommunicado detention
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Burma (Myanmar).
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source of the arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention of Dr. Salai Tan Thun by Burmese security officials in Rangoon (Yangon), Burma.
According to the information received, Dr. Thun, a 74 year old retired rector of the Yezin University in Pyinmana (Upper Burma), was arrested in early December (the exact date of his arrest has not been released), while handing out copies of a petition that called on the military regime to return power to civilian rule. Dr. Thun, who is not affiliated with any political movements, was petitioning the government in his own name. In essence, Dr. Thun’s petition called on the military regime to hold multiparty elections within a year.
According to the information received, during Dr. Thun’s distribution of the petition, security officials arrested him. While his precise whereabouts remain unknown since his arrest, it is thought that he is being held in Insein Prison, north of Rangoon, a facility notorious for its torture and ill-treatment of detainees. Since his arrest, his relatives have not been granted access to visit him, and are also reluctant to respond to questions as their lives are also in jeopardy.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Dr. Salai Tan Thun and fears that he may be subjected to ill-treatment and torture due to the historical precedent of the treatment of political activists in Burmese prisons. Furthmore, OMCT condemns the government’s continuing use of arbitrary arrests and incommunicado detention of political activists in order to silence their public opposition to the military dictatorship.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Burma urging them to:
· take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Dr. Salai Tan Thun;
· intervene with the appropriate authorities in order to secure that Dr. Thun be allowed to meet with his relatives;
· order his immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges or, if such charges exist, bring him before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee his procedural rights at all times;
· guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
· Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman, State Peace and Development Council, Office of the Prime Minister, Yangon, Myanmar
· Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, Secretary 1, State Peace and Development Council, C/o Ministry of Defense, Signal Pagoda Road, Yangon, Union of Myanmar, Fax: 95 1 222 950
· U Win Aung, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yangon, Myanmar, Email: mofa.aung@mptmail.net.mm
· Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Palais des Nations, 8-14 Avenue de la Paix, CH 1211 Geneve, SWITZERLAND, FAX: +41 22 9170213, Email: secrt.hchr@unog.ch (please mark ATT: MR. PINHEIRO)
· National League for Democracy, 97B West Shwegondaing Street, Bahan Township, Yangon, MYANMAR
Please also write to the embassies of Burma in your respective country.
Geneva, February 1st, 2002
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Arbitrary arrest/Incommunicado detention
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Burma (Myanmar).
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source of the arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention of Dr. Salai Tan Thun by Burmese security officials in Rangoon (Yangon), Burma.
According to the information received, Dr. Thun, a 74 year old retired rector of the Yezin University in Pyinmana (Upper Burma), was arrested in early December (the exact date of his arrest has not been released), while handing out copies of a petition that called on the military regime to return power to civilian rule. Dr. Thun, who is not affiliated with any political movements, was petitioning the government in his own name. In essence, Dr. Thun’s petition called on the military regime to hold multiparty elections within a year.
According to the information received, during Dr. Thun’s distribution of the petition, security officials arrested him. While his precise whereabouts remain unknown since his arrest, it is thought that he is being held in Insein Prison, north of Rangoon, a facility notorious for its torture and ill-treatment of detainees. Since his arrest, his relatives have not been granted access to visit him, and are also reluctant to respond to questions as their lives are also in jeopardy.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Dr. Salai Tan Thun and fears that he may be subjected to ill-treatment and torture due to the historical precedent of the treatment of political activists in Burmese prisons. Furthmore, OMCT condemns the government’s continuing use of arbitrary arrests and incommunicado detention of political activists in order to silence their public opposition to the military dictatorship.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Burma urging them to:
· take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Dr. Salai Tan Thun;
· intervene with the appropriate authorities in order to secure that Dr. Thun be allowed to meet with his relatives;
· order his immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges or, if such charges exist, bring him before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee his procedural rights at all times;
· guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
· Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman, State Peace and Development Council, Office of the Prime Minister, Yangon, Myanmar
· Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, Secretary 1, State Peace and Development Council, C/o Ministry of Defense, Signal Pagoda Road, Yangon, Union of Myanmar, Fax: 95 1 222 950
· U Win Aung, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yangon, Myanmar, Email: mofa.aung@mptmail.net.mm
· Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Palais des Nations, 8-14 Avenue de la Paix, CH 1211 Geneve, SWITZERLAND, FAX: +41 22 9170213, Email: secrt.hchr@unog.ch (please mark ATT: MR. PINHEIRO)
· National League for Democracy, 97B West Shwegondaing Street, Bahan Township, Yangon, MYANMAR
Please also write to the embassies of Burma in your respective country.
Geneva, February 1st, 2002
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.