Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received details of a case of a man who disappeared after a dispute with a government official in the east of the country. Although the case has been reported to the police and other authorities, no action has been taken against the person suspected of orchestrating the disappearance, and almost a year the whereabouts of the disappeared man remain unknown.
CASE NARRATIVE:
According to the information received by the AHRC, at about 8pm on 3 January 2010 a group of four armed men kicked open the door on the home of U Shay Reh in Loikaw, Karenni State, and forcibly took him away with them. He has not been seen since, and although his relatives promptly informed the police and other authorities, there has been no action on the case.
The abduction and disappearance of Shay Reh followed a dispute over the question of marriage between his daughter and the son of a government official, U Ri Reh. Shay Reh’s 22-year-old daughter had become pregnant by Ri Reh’s son, and as only a few months remained before the birth of the child, her family had pressed for the two to marry. However, in November 2009 Ri Reh came to meet Shay Reh, to try to negotiate compensation for the childbirth instead of arranging marriage. After Shay Reh refused to negotiate, Ri Reh allegedly said that someone would have to die rather than have the couple get married. In December the young woman sent a letter to the state women’s affairs committee to ask for assistance in the matter, and it was shortly after that that her father was abducted.
The family of the abducted man is convinced that his abduction was connected to the dispute over the marriage, and that Ri Reh and family used their connections to get members of a local ceasefire group to carry out the abduction.
Further details of the case are provided in the sample letter below as usual.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Anecdotally, there are many cases of alleged forced disappearance in Burma, particularly in the border regions; however, in only a small number of cases do sufficient details emerge with which to construct a narrative and call for strong interventions. For an earlier similar case in which the AHRC issued an appeal see UA-226-2007. In that case, in which the victim was allegedly abducted by army personnel, from what the AHRC has been able to establish the government conducted a superficial inquiry and absolved their own men from responsibility, acknowledging the disappearance but blaming it on insurgents active in the area.
To browse hundreds of other Burma-related appeals issued by the AHRC, go to the appeals homepage and type “Burma” or “Myanmar” into the search box http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/.
The AHRC Burmese-language blog is updated constantly for Burmese-language readers, and covers the contents of urgent appeal cases, related news, and special analysis pieces.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the persons listed below to call for an investigation into the case of U Shay Reh. Please note that for the purposes of the letter Burma is referred to by its official name, Myanmar, and Karenni State as Kayah State.
Please be informed that the AHRC is writing separate letters to the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar; the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, and the regional human rights office for Southeast Asia calling for interventions into this case.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ___________,
MYANMAR: Man abducted and disappears after dispute with government official
Details of victim: U Shay Reh, father of Lee Mya, resident of Pankan Village Tract No. 1 (South), Loikaw Town, Kayah State
Details of alleged perpetrators: U Ri Reh, Chairman, Dawbuku Village Tract, Dimawsoe Township, and son, Maung De Reh, clerk, Phyaphyu Village Tract Peace and Development Council; members of the Naga Ceasefire Group
Date of incident: 3 January 2010, around 8pm
I am writing to inform you of a case of alleged forcible abduction and disappearance perpetrated by members of a ceasefire group at the behest of a government official in Loikaw, Kayah State, almost a year ago. To date, the victim’s whereabouts remain unknown and the authorities concerned have failed to take action.
According to the information that I have received, at about 8pm on 3 January 2010 a group of four armed men kicked open the door on the home of U Shay Reh in Loikaw, Karenni State, and forcibly took him away with them. He has not been seen since.
The abduction and disappearance of Shay Reh followed a dispute over the question of marriage between his daughter and the son of a government official, U Ri Reh. Shay Reh’s 22-year-old daughter had become pregnant by Ri Reh’s son, and as only a few months remained before the birth of the child, her family had pressed for the two to marry. However, on 29 November 2009 Ri Reh came to meet Shay Reh, to try to negotiate compensation for the childbirth instead of arranging marriage. After Shay Reh refused to negotiate, Ri Reh allegedly said that someone would have to die rather than have the couple get married. On 30 December 2009 the young woman sent a letter to the state women’s affairs committee to ask for assistance in the matter, just before her father was abducted.
The family of the abducted man is convinced that his abduction was connected to the dispute over the marriage, and that Ri Reh and family used their connections to get members of the Naga Ceasefire Group to carry out the abduction. According to information I have received, a brother of Ri Reh is also a township council chairman.
The relatives of the disappeared man promptly notified the police at the township and district stations. Shortly after they notified the area army commander for Loikaw, chairman of the state, district and township councils, the state police chief, and the commanders of the Special Branch and Criminal Investigation Divisions in Loikaw. Despite this, to date their efforts have yielded no fruit and the disappeared man’s whereabouts and circumstances remain a mystery.
In light of this information, I strongly urge the national authorities in Myanmar to initiate an investigation into this incident at once and uncover what happened and who was responsible. I am aware that in many parts of the border regions in Myanmar there are armed groups operating under ceasefire agreements as quasi-official security forces; however, the peculiar circumstances of the case and place in which this event occurred cannot absolve state personnel of responsibility, especially since the alleged mastermind of the abduction is a government official, as are other members of his family, and since the authorities at a variety of levels in the state were promptly informed of the abduction yet apparently failed to act upon the information supplied.
Yours sincerely,
—————-
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Maj-Gen. (Retd.) Maung Oo
Minister for Home Affairs
Ministry of Home Affairs
Office No. 10
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: +95 67 412 079/ 549 393/ 549 663
Fax: +95 67 412 439
2. Lt-Gen. (Retd.) Thein Sein
Prime Minister
c/o Ministry of Defence
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: + 95 1 372 681
Fax: + 95 1 652 624
3. Brig-Gen. Khin Yi
Director General
Myanmar Police Force
Ministry of Home Affairs
Office No. 10
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: +95 67 412 079/ 549 393/ 549 663
Fax: +951 549 663 / 549 208
4. U Myat Ko
Secretary of Myanmar Human Rights Group
Director-General, General Administration Department
Ministry of Home Affairs, Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
5. U Kyaw Tint Swe
Representative of Myanmar to the ASEAN
Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights
2300 S Street, N.W. Washington D.C. 20008
Tel: (202) 3329044, 3329045, 3329049
Fax: (202) 352 9046
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) (ua@ahrc.asia)
