Recent development in the investigation of Mr. Soe Moe Tun’s murder

MMR 002 / 1216 / OBS 109.1

Killing

Burma

January 19, 2017

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, apartnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), hasreceived new information and requests your urgent intervention in the followingsituation in Burma.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about a recentdevelopment in the investigation of Mr. SoeMoe Tun’s murder. Mr. Soe Moe Tun, who was murdered on December 13, 2016,was a journalist with the Eleven Media Group, a company that owns several mediaoutlets in Burma, including the DailyEleven newspaper. Mr. Soe Moe Tun was known for his investigative work onillegal logging and timber smuggling in several areas of Sagaing Region,including Monywa and Sagaing Townships.

According to the information received, on January 16, 2017, two suspectsunder investigation were released from police custody. The two suspects, themanager and supervisor of karaoke bar Blue Sky KTV, were among the last peopleMr. Soe Moe Tun had been in contact with before he was killed. The two suspectswere arrested on December 19, 2016. A third suspect, a driver, arrested onJanuary 2, 2017, remains in custody.

The police have also filed a request with the Ministry of Transport andCommunications to investigate phone numbers contacted and conversation recordsin Mr. Soe Moe Tun’s phone.

The Observatory urges the authorities to ensure a thorough, impartial, andtransparent investigation into the murder of Mr. Soe Moe Tun is carried out, in order to identify all those responsible, bring thembefore an independent tribunal, and sanction them as provided by the law.

The Observatory expresses its deepest concern over the unsafeenvironment for human rights defenders in Burma, in particular the ongoingimpunity in the case of the murder of Karen woman human rights defender Ms. ChitPandaing, better known as “Eh Paw Tel”[1].

Background information:

On the morning of December 13, 2016, the body of Mr. Soe Moe Tun wasfound on the side of Pyidaungsu Road near the Monywa golf course in Monywa,Sagaing Region. Bruises, wounds on his head, and an apparently fractured skulllead police to believe Mr. Soe Moe Tun was beaten to death with a blunt object.

Shortly before his death, on December 7, 2016, Mr. Soe Moe Tun hadwritten a Facebook post that included a list of individuals who wereallegedly tied to the illegal timber trade in Sagaing Region.

On December 13, 2016, police in Monywa opened a murder investigationinto Mr. Soe Moe Tun’s death. Preliminary evidence gathered by the policeindicated that the killing was intentional and premeditated, and may haveinvolved at least two people.

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 of Human Rights.

Addresses:

· U HtinKyaw, President; Fax: +95 1 652 624

· Lt GenKyaw Swe, Minister for Home Affairs; Fax: +95 67 412 439; Email: mohamyanmar@gmail.com

· Daw AungSan Suu Kyi, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Fax: +95 67 412396

· U WinMra, Chairman of the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission; Email: chmyanmarnhrc@gmail.com

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

· Maj GenZaw Win, Director General, Myanmar Police Force, Ministry of Home Affairs, Fax:+95 67 412006; Email: mpfserver@gmail.com

· HEMr. Htin Lynn, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, PermanentRepresentative to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland; Fax: +41 22 732 8919, +41 22 732 73 77; Email: mission@myanmargeneva.org

· Embassy of Myanmar in Brussels, Belgium; Fax: +32 2705 50 48; Email: mebrussels@skynet.be

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

***

Paris-Geneva, January 19, 2017

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 human rightsdefenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the EuropeanUnion Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civilsociety.

[1]See the Observatory Urgent Appeal MMR 001/1216/OBS 108 published on December15, 2016.