Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has obtained detailed information about another case of a monk in Burma who has been imprisoned for alleged anti-government activity. The authorities accused U Gawthita of travelling to Thailand unlawfully and getting support from groups there. A court imprisoned him for seven years without evidence. Gawthita, who was not involved in the September 2007 anti-government protests, claims that he was obtaining support from abroad to continue relief efforts for cyclone victims.
CASE NARRATIVE:
U Gawthita and seven other months were detained at the airport in Rangoon on their return from Taiwan in August 2009. The authorities later released the other monks but accused Gawthita of having met and obtained support from anti-government groups in Thailand. They kept him at a special interrogation facility for a month before he was charged with having allegedly gone to Thailand illegally earlier in the year to meet with and get support from anti-government groups there.
Gawthita, who had no involvement in earlier political activism by monks in Burma, denies the charges and according to him he was merely collecting support for relief of cyclone victims and other humanitarian activities. Politically-active monks from Burma in Thailand have also denied that he came to met them. Photographs that the police used in court to show that Gawthita had gone to meet exile monks were not taken in Thailand at all but at an earlier time in Burma.
Among other so-called evidence that the police presented in court against Gawthita were trivial sums of money in various currencies, from less than a thousand US dollars to a single Malaysian Ringgit, and some computers and other appliances some of which had been confiscated from other monks with whom he had been travelling.
The supposed currency offence was not only absurd because of the amounts involved but also illegally laid because the police detained Gawthita as soon as he arrived in the airport and before he had time to declare currency or other items in his possession in accordance with the law. In other words, the police pre-empted the possibility of any criminal offence being committed.
However, the closed court ignored the lack of evidence and other flaws in the case, and in February 2010 sentenced Gawthita to seven years in jail. For further details and to call for his release, see the sample letter below.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The AHRC has reported on other cases against monks since the 2007 September monk-led nationwide protests against military dictatorship in Burma; see for instance the cases of U Sandhadika (AHRC-UAC-110-2009) and U Gambira (AHRC-UA-248-2008). The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) also has a list of detained monks on its website: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners ( Burma)
Recent and older urgent appeals on Burma can be accessed by going to the appeals homepage and typing “Burma” or “Myanmar” into the search box at http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/.
For further discussion see articles and special reports on the article 2 website: http://www.article2.org/search.php again search for Burma/Myanmar; and, see the 2009 AHRC annual report on Burma (PDF).
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 the release of U Gawthita. Please note that for the purpose of the letter, the country should be referred to by its official title of Myanmar, rather than Burma, and Yangon rather than Rangoon.
Please be informed that the AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteurs on Myanmar, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention 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: Monk helping cyclone victims imprisoned
Details of accused: U Kawthita, civilian name Han Myint, residing at Leitpyagan Monastery, Bahan Township, Yangon, Myanmar
Police officers involved:
1. Police Captain Myo Thant (prosecuting officer)
2. Inspector Khin Myint, Special Branch, Myawaddy
3. Inspector Saw Aung, Special Branch, Yangon Division
4. Inspector Kyaw Soe, Special Branch, Yangon Division
5. Inspector Htun Soe Thein
Charges & trial: Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947, section 24(1); Immigration (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1947, section 13(1); Organization Law 1988, section 7, Criminal Case Nos. 102-104/09, Yangon Western District Court (Special Court), Deputy District Judge (No. 3) U Tin Htut presiding, sentenced to seven years in prison on 17 February 2010
I deeply regret to learn of the case of another monk whom authorities in Myanmar have imprisoned inexplicably, instead of lauding him for his efforts to raise funds with which to give continued support to cyclone victims.
According to the information that I have received, U Gawthita was detained at Yangon International Airport along with seven other monks after returning from a trip to Taiwan on 26 August 2009. The others were released but he was detained at the Aungthapyay interrogation centre until 21 September 2009 and then charged with having allegedly gone to Thailand illegally earlier in the year to meet with and get support from anti-government groups there. Gawthita denies the charges and according to him he was merely collecting support for relief of cyclone victims and other humanitarian activities.
Among the items of so-called evidence that the police presented in court against Gawthita were trivial sums of money in various currencies (the largest, USD 994, others including 42 Hong Kong Dollars; 10,000 Indonesian Rupiah; 100 Chinese Yuan; 2 Singapore Dollars; 670 Thai Baht and a Malaysian Ringgit) and some computers and other appliances among which the majority of items presented to the court were not owned by Gawthita but had been confiscated from other monks with whom he had been travelling.
The supposed currency offence was not only absurd because of the amounts involved but also illegally laid because the police detained Gawthita as soon as he arrived in the airport and before he had time to declare currency or other items in his possession in accordance with the law. In other words, the police pre-empted the possibility of any criminal offence being committed.
However, the court–which held the trial inside the Insein Central Prison in contradiction of the Judiciary Law 2000–overlooked this and other flawed aspects in the case against Gawthita, including the lack of any firm evidence that he had received support from groups abroad for political activities and the failure of the prosecution to call key witnesses so that they could be cross-examined by the defence lawyer, and convicted him in all three cases to a total of seven years in prison on 17 February 2010 on the ground that the police had presented photographs of Gawthita with an opposition monk in exile. In fact, these photographs were not taken abroad but in Myanmar, before the other monk had left the country, and prove nothing of the charges against the accused.
In light of the obvious flaws in this case I urge the concerned authorities to ensure the release of Gawthita without delay. I also take this opportunity to remind the Government of Myanmar of the need to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross access to places of detention, in accordance with its globally recognized mandate, including to all those monks and nuns imprisoned in the aftermath of the September 2007 protests, and to ensure that all prisoners obtain appropriate medical treatment, have access to family members and are otherwise treated humanely and appropriately.
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. U Aung Toe
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. U Aye Maung
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. 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
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) (ua@ahrc.asia)
