BURMA: Police severely assault young man and deny medical treatment 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been in contact with persons who have informed about a brutal assault by police on a young man, Ko Aung Myint Oo, who was beaten by a group of police in Mandalay division as they took him into custody on January 18. When they took him before a judge, the judge was shocked to see his condition and ordered that the police send him to hospital. But the police instead tried to send him to jail. When the wardens saw him, they also refused to take him. After that the police took him to a local clinic but the staff again said to take him to a hospital. He was finally admitted to the township hospital that night, but the police forcibly removed him from the hospital in chains after only one week of treatment. Aung Myint Oo is now in jail. No action is known to have been taken against the police involved in the assault.

According to sources in Mandalay division, at around 8am on 18 January 2006 30-year-old timber miller Ko Aung Myint Oo was returning near his home in Pyitharyar Ward 3 of Meikhtila town when he was stopped by Police Sergeant Saw Hla May, who told him to come to the Meikhtila Township Police Station No. 3, in Nyaungkone village. He did not say anything about why Aung Myint Oo had to go. Therefore Aung Myint Oo refused to follow and went home.

In fact, the police had been issued a warrant of arrest for Aung Myint Oo in a gambling case from 2002. He had won the case in the lower court, but the prosecutor had appealed and won at the divisional court. Therefore Aung Myint Oo had been sentenced to six months in prison under section 13(a) of the Gambling Act. A warrant had been issued, but when Pol. Sgt. Saw Hla May approached Aung Myint Oo he allegedly said nothing of this, despite the fact that it is required by law for the police to produce the warrant (section 80, Criminal Procedure Code).

Later that morning, a group of police came to Aung Myint Oo’s house. They included Police Sergeant Saw Hla May and were headed by Deputy Superintendent Aung Than Htay. In total there were around 14 police officers, on seven motorcycles. Deputy Superintendent Aung Than Htay aimed his gun at Aung Myint Oo and told him not to move. After that the police surrounded Aung Myint Oo and savagely assaulted him with various objects that they could find lying around the roadside, including sticks, rakes and bricks, until he fell unconscious.

The police called a horse and cart to take Aung Myint Oo back to the police station. After they arrived, the judge at Meikhtila Township Court No. 1 called for him to be brought before him. The judge, U Thein Win, reportedly was shocked at the sight of Aung Myint Oo and said to the police, “Why did you beat him this much? His injuries are serious. Don’t act illegally.” He then read the notice of a six-month jail term from the higher court, and ordered the police to take the assault victim to the hospital, rather than to jail.

However, the police allegedly disregarded the judge’s instruction and took Aung Myint Oo to the prison. But when the prison wardens saw his condition, they also refused to accept him into their custody and also insisted that he should be sent to hospital.

Still the police resisted taking Aung Myint Oo to hospital. Instead they took him to a local outpatient clinic. There too the staff said that they couldn’t treat his severe injuries and said to take him to hospital.

Finally Aung Myint Oo was registered in the township hospital at 8pm that night. According to the medical report of senior doctor U Nyunt Lwin, Aung Myint Oo had two broken ribs and severe injuries to his face and body.

From January 18 to 25 Aung Myint Oo was kept in the hospital. But on January 25 a Deputy Superintendent Kyaw Tint came to the hospital and forcibly removed Aung Myint Oo in shackles and handcuffs, despite protests from staff that the man should be admitted for around three weeks in order to recover properly. He has since been kept in prison.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

From the description of this case, the police were keen to avoid responsibility for the assault by not admitting the injured man to hospital. Once admitted, they were also keen to keep him there for the minimum time necessary. Under section 320 of the Penal Code, any assault that causes a person to be incapacitated for more than 20 days is grievous bodily harm, which carries a jail term of up to seven years (section 325) or ten years if found to have done so with instruments that could cause death (section 326). So the police would have been certain to ensure that the victim not be kept in hospital for more than 20 days as had been requested by the staff.

The AHRC has in recent times heard of a growing number of cases of police officers and/or local government officials in Burma seriously assaulting, and sometimes killing, local people. Some earlier reported cases include UA-044-2006, UP-071-2005 and UA-111-2004. However, as in all other cases of abuses committed by state officers in Burma, it is extremely difficult for victims and their families to bring complaints and withstand the subsequent threats and coercion to withdraw their statements: see further AS-015-2006.

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SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the Minister of Home Affairs calling for an immediate investigation into the alleged assault and failure of the police to take the victim to the hospital as ordered by the township judge, with a view to prosecution. Please ask that the current medical condition of the victim be given priority. Please also ask that protection be given to the victim and family to prevent possible harassment by the alleged perpetrators and that compensation be given in the event that the police are found guilty of assault.

Please note that for the purpose of the letter, the country should be referred to by its official title of Myanmar, rather than Burma.

 

 

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