Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has since April followed the case of a couple who were brutally assaulted and robbed by three soldiers in Pyi, central Burma, resulting in the death of one of them. Despite two of the three perpetrators being quickly apprehended, their battalion commander took them into army custody and in the five months since the demands of the local community that they be brought before a civilian court and tried for murder have fallen on deaf ears.
CASE NARRATIVE:
In the evening of 23 April 2013, a young couple, Zaw Min Oo and E Zin Moe Ko, were sitting on a riverbank in Pyi, under a spot where families and couples come of an evening time to relax and play, when three men approached them. One asked for a light and then they moved on. But after just a few minutes the three men returned and attacked the couple. One began to strangle E Zin Moe Ko and fearful for her life, she fell limp, stopped breathing and pretended that she was already dead. While strangling her, the perpetrator cursed: “I killed the woman fish vendor like this”. Then, thinking she had died, the man stopped and removed her gold ring.
E Zin Moe Ko lost consciousness momentarily and when she regained her senses she could not see Zaw Min Oo but saw the three men moving off along the bank. She ran quickly for help and alerted people nearby of what had happened. Within a few hours, two of the three were in custody.
The police then learned that the men were soldiers from the nearby army battalion. Shortly afterwards, Captain Min Thu Aung arrived from the army battalion and removed the three men to the army camp. Subsequently Zaw Min Oo’s battered body was found in the river. (Picture: funeral ceremony for the deceased man).
Townspeople rallied outside the police station and submitted demands that the killers be identified and prosecuted, that the surviving victim be compensated and rehabilitated, and that the army guarantee that the incident not be repeated. They learned that the men were being held in army custody and that action would be taken against them imminently. The army also said that according to procedures it had to conduct its own inquiry before handing them over to the police.
On April 25, a court martial at the army battalion called some townspeople and police to hear their accounts, and on the request of the families of the victims allowed some of them to stay during the inquiries. A corporal admitted that on the night concerned, the three men had been drinking and had gone absent from the camp without leave. The police testified they were certain that the three accused were the perpetrators of the crime.
Despite these proceedings, in the five months since the murder, the soldiers have not been brought for prosecution in the town court, even though according to law, once the army has completed its military judicial proceedings, where soldiers have committed a crime against civilians they must be transferred to civilian court for continued proceedings. (Picture: senior army officers visiting the site of the crime).
Therefore, the townspeople are rightly suspicious that the army is somehow planning to thwart justice and not turn over the accused, perhaps not out of concern to protect the three men involved, who are anyhow of little importance to their superiors, but out of concern that it will set a precedent locally that if a higher ranked soldier is accused of an offence, demands will also be made for action to be taken against him.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The military in Myanmar has long enjoyed impunity for offences committed against civilians, and despite recent political changes, prosecutions of errant soldiers are extremely rare. The AHRC this year issued a dossier of cases from Kachin State in which many perpetrators were military personnel (AHRC-PRL-002-2013), and an appeal on the murder of a young woman by military firing whose father himself was prosecuted for lodging complaints (AHRC-UAC-080-2013). In the latter case, the father was subsequently released thanks to widespread public attention to the case, but no action is known to have been taken against the military personnel involved.
The 2008 Constitution in its section 20(b) also grants the army autonomy to adjudicate in all matters relating to its own affairs; however, in a case of this sort where army personnel have without permission left their camp and off-duty have attacked civilians, the question of criminal responsibility rests with the civilian courts.
For many more cases and issues concerning human rights in Burma, visit the AHRC’s country homepage: http://www.humanrights.asia/countries/burma
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to the following government authorities to urge that the three accused soldiers be brought before a civilian court and tried for murder without delay. Please note that for the purpose of the letter Burma is referred to by its official name, Myanmar, and Pyi as Pyay.
Please also be informed that the AHRC is writing separate letters to the UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights in Myanmar; on extrajudicial killings; on the independence of judges and lawyers; and to the UN Regional Office in Bangkok, calling for their interventions into this matter.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ___________,
MYANMAR: Five-month delay in the trial of three soldiers who murdered a civilian
Names of victims:
1. Zaw Min Oo, male (deceased), resident of Tayokezu Ward, Pyay, Myanmar
2. E Zin Moe Ko, female (survived by faking death), resident of Shwe-letla Ward, Pyay
Both residents of Pyay, Myanmar, teaching children at the Maha Zeyone Temple monastic school
Names of accused:
1. Private Ye Ko Oo, Serial No. Ta/424543
2. Private Than Htaik Aung, Serial No. Ta/372569
3. Third unidentified soldier, non-commissioned officer, possibly rank of sergeant
All stationed at Infantry Battalion (IB) 75 compound, Pyay
Other concerned persons:
1. Sub Inspector San Oo, detective, Pyay Police Station No. 2
2. Captain Min Thu Aung, IB 75
Other police and army personnel at these two facilities
Date and time of incident: 23 April 2013, after 7pm
Place of incident: Nearby Nawaday Bridge, Sinzu Ward, Pyay, Myanmar
Case opened as: FIR Pa/294/2013, Pyay Police Station No. 2, Sections 302/325, Penal Code, for murder and grievous hurt
I am greatly concerned by news that three soldiers who allegedly murdered one person and left another for dead in Pyay, Myanmar, some five months after the crime was committed have still not been brought to court for prosecution, even though they were taken into custody almost immediately after the attack.
According to the information that I have received, in the evening time of 23 April 2013, the two victims were sitting on the bank of the Ayeyarwaddy River under the viewpoint where families and couples come of an evening time to relax and play, when three men came from under the Nawaday Bridge and crossing a sandbank came up to the couple. The two victims could identify the three clearly. One asked Zaw Min Oo for a light, but he said he didn’t have one and they went on.
After three minutes the three men returned and attacked the couple. One began to strangle E Zin Moe Ko and as her eyes rolled into her head she could not see what happened next, but fearful for her life, she fell limp, stopped breathing and pretended that she was already dead. While strangling her, the perpetrator cursed: “I killed the woman fish vendor like this”.Then, thinking she had died, the man stopped and removed her gold ring.
E Zin Moe Ko lost consciousness momentarily and when she regained her senses she could not see Zaw Min Oo but saw the three men moving off along the bank. She ran quickly up to the viewpoint and alerted people there what had happened. The police soon had two of the three men in custody, the third having fled when a group of locals out searching for them had tried to detain them. The police also learned that the three were soldiers from IB 75.
Shortly afterwards, Captain Min Thu Aung arrived from the army battalion and removed the three men to the army camp. Subsequently Zaw Min Oo’s battered body was found in the river.
Angry townspeople rallied outside the police station and submitted demands that the killers be identified and prosecuted, that the surviving victim be compensated and rehabilitated, and that the army guarantee that the incident not be repeated. They learned that the men were being held in army custody and that action would be taken against them imminently. The army also said that according to procedures it had to conduct its own inquiry before handing them over to the police.
On April 25, a court martial at the army battalion called some townspeople and police to hear their accounts, and on the request of the families of the victims allowed some of them to stay during the inquiries. According to what they heard, a corporal admitted that on the night concerned, the three men had been drinking and had gone absent from the camp without leave, and that in order to avoid being spotted crossing the Yangon-Pyay road they had passed along the sandbanks. The police testified they were certain that the three accused were the perpetrators of the crime.
Despite these proceedings, in the five months since the murder, the soldiers have not been brought for prosecution in the town court.
I am led to believe that under section 72 of the Defence Services Act, once action has been taken in accordance with military law against army personnel, where crimes are committed against civilians the matter must then be transferred to civilian court for continued proceedings. Therefore, I urgently request that the case against the three men commence without any further delay. The townspeople are rightly fearful that if no action is taken against the perpetrators of this crime on account of their being army personnel, that it may very well result in similar incidents occurring in the future.
I also take this opportunity to point out that in this period of democratic transition in Myanmar it is of the utmost importance that army personnel are held accountable for their crimes. If soldiers enjoy impunity for offences of this sort, or face only martial justice, it will send a bad signal that they continue to be exempted from the ordinary rules that apply to everyone else, as they were in the past. I trust that the government of Myanmar does not want to send a signal of this sort, and urge that accordingly it ensure prosecutions follow in each and every case where soldiers are accused of criminal behaviour.
I look forward to your positive and effective response in this case.
Yours sincerely,
—————-
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. U Hla Min
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. U Thein Sein
President of Myanmar
President Office
Office No.18
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
3. U Tun Tun Oo
Chief Justice
Office of the Supreme Court
Office No. 24
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: + 95 67 404 080/ 071/ 078/ 067 or + 95 1 372 145
Fax: + 95 67 404 059
4. Dr. Tun Shin
Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Office No. 25
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: +95 67 404 088/ 090/ 092/ 094/ 097
Fax: +95 67 404 146/ 106
5. U Zaw Min
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
6. Thura U Aung Ko
Chairman
Pyithu Hluttaw Judicial and Legislative Committee
Pythu Hluttaw Office
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
7. U Aung Nyein
Chairman
Pyithu Hluttaw Judicial and Legislative Committee
Committee for Public Complaints and Appeals
Office of the Amyotha Hluttaw
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
8. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
Chairwoman
Pyithu Hluttaw Rule of Law and Tranquility Committee
Office of the Pyithu Hluttaw
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
9. U Win Mra
Chairman
Myanmar National Human Rights Commission
27 Pyay Road
Hlaing Township
Yangon
MYANMAR
Tel: +95-1-659 668
Fax: +95-1-659 668
10. Ko Ko Hlaing
Chief Political Advisor
Office of the President
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel-+95-1-532 501 ext-605 / 654 668
Fax-+95-1-532 500, 654 668
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
