Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed through staff of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) that the trial of two police officers charged with rape in central Burma is being unduly delayed through various tactics used by the accused. Meanwhile, the victim of the attack, Ma Soe Soe, has continued to face difficulties due to her determination to persist with the case.
The AHRC earlier reported that two police officers and an accomplice in Twente Township, Rangoon, Burma, were charged at the start of January 2006 with raping 30-year-old Ma Soe Soe on 12 June 2005 (UP-008-2006, UA-141-2005). The accused are police constables Tin Ko Oo & Kyaw Myo Min.
It took almost six months to get the case into the court due to the strenuous efforts of the police to intimidate and coerce the victim and witnesses into taking money to close the matter. Although Ma Soe Soe is extremely poor and she is surviving only from day to day, she has refused to accept money and said that she will fight for the rights of women in Burma and against the constant abuse they suffer at the hands of the police, soldiers and government officials.
Now the AHRC has been informed by Maung Maung Hein of DVB radio that the trial itself is being unnecessarily delayed as the defendants have called, and the court has accepted, many irrelevant witnesses. Up to March 1, since the prosecution closed its case only the three defendants themselves had been heard. The defence lawyer, U Mya Win (who is formerly from the police service), has called seven witnesses. However, observers in the court have said that these witnesses have nothing to contribute to the case and the purpose of calling them is clearly to drag out the length of the trial.
The AHRC has been advised by a member of the Burma Lawyers Council that it may take five months for the case to be concluded.
By drawing out the case the accused hope to find ways to pervert justice and also cause suffering to the victim. Ma Soe Soe has been forced to mortgage her house and sell her pig to pay for expenses related to the case, as she has had to hire an independent lawyer to represent her due to the poor quality of work done by the public prosecutor. However, she has insisted that she will not withdraw the charges.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the Attorney General to call for action to speed up the case and ensure that the rights of the victim are better protected. A suggested letter follows.
Please note that for the purpose of the letter, the country should be referred to by its official title of Myanmar, rather than Burma.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear U Aye Maung
MYANMAR: Unnecessary delays to rape case proceeding against two police constables in Twente Township Court
Name of victim: Ma Soe Soe, 30 years old, married with three children, residing in Myathida ward, Twente town, Yangon Division
Name of alleged perpetrators: Police constables Tin Ko Oo & Kyaw Myo Min
Place of incident: Nyaung Waing area of Twente town
Time & date of incident: 12 June 2005, around 10:30pm
Case details: Penal Code sections 366 & 376, Twente Township Court, Judge U Zaw Zaw Thein presiding, opened on 2 January 2006
I am very much disappointed to hear of undue delays in a rape case proceeding against two police constables and an accomplice in the Twente Township Court.
As you will be aware, Ma Soe Soe has refused money from police constables Tin Ko Oo and Kyaw Myo Min to withdraw the case, and despite facing hostile and illegal interrogation and other forms of intimidation by the investigating police of Twente Township Police Station she has had it posted in the Twente Township Court, backed by eyewitness testimonies and a medical report.
Having taken almost six months to get the case into the court, the trial process is now proceeding slowly due to various tactics used by the accused. I am informed that up to March 1, since the prosecution closed its case only the three defendants themselves have been heard. The defence lawyer, U Mya Win, has called seven witnesses who reportedly have nothing to contribute to the case other than to drag out its proceedings. Nonetheless, Judge U Zaw Zaw Thein has admitted all the witnesses.
I am concerned that at this rate the case will take many more months to be concluded. Evidently, by drawing out the case the accused hope to find ways to pervert justice and also cause suffering to the victim. I understand that Ma Soe Soe has had to bear many expenses in running the case, despite the fact that she and her family survive on meagre daily wages.
I am also concerned that the Office of the Attorney General is itself very much responsible for these delays. I am informed that under section 78(c)(d) of the Attorney General Regulations, it is required that a criminal case be opened within six months of an offence occurring, and in the event that this is not so, the concerned law office must report on the reasons for the delay and the higher offices may give instructions to expedite the case. In this instance, almost seven months passed before charges were laid, and now Ma Soe Soe has had to hire an outside lawyer to represent her in court because of the poor work done by the lawyer appointed by the Twente Township Law Office.
Accordingly, I am today calling upon you to take immediate action to see this case expedited, through close personal scrutiny of your staff in the township law office and better representation in court.
I also wish to remind you of the many concerns felt in the international community regarding violence against women by government officials in Myanmar. I am aware that despite the fact that the Myanmar government has international obligations to provide remedies to the victims, including compensation and rehabilitation, in keeping with the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), most cases of rape by government officers never reach the courts. One of the reasons for this is due to the absence of effective legal remedies. Therefore, I urge you to recommend to the Government of Myanmar that it enact an enabling law in pursuance to the CEDAW in order that its provisions are properly enacted in Myanmar and the rights of women there are better protected.
Yours sincerely
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
U Aye Maung
Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
101 Pansodan Street
Kyauktada Township
Yangon
MYANMAR
Fax: + 95 1 371 028/ 282 449 / 282 990
PLEASE SEND COPIES TO:
1. Lt-Gen. Soe Win
Prime Minister
c/o Ministry of Defence
Signal Pagoda Road
Yangon
MYANMAR
Tel: + 95 1 372 681
Fax: + 95 1 652 624
2. Maj-Gen. Maung Oo
Minister for Home Affairs
Ministry of Home Affairs
Corner of Saya San Street and No 1 Industrial Street,
Yankin Township
Yangon
MYANMAR
Tel: +951 250 315 / 374 789
Fax: +951 549 663 / 549 208
3. Major General Sein Htwa
Minister of Social Welfare, Relief & Resettlement
Chairman
Myanmar National Working Committee for Women's Affairs
64 Kabar Aye Pagoda Road
Yangon
MYANMAR
Fax: +95 1 650 002
4. Judge U Zaw Zaw Thein
Twente Township Court
Twente Township
Yangon Division
MYANMAR
5. Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro
Special Rapporteur on Myanmar
Attn: Ms. Audrey Ryan
Room 3-090
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: + 41 22 9179 281
Fax: + 41 22 9179 018 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR MYANMAR)
E-mail: aryan@ohchr.org
6. Ms. Yakin Erturk
Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women
c/o Ms Lucinda Ohanlon
Room 3-042
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9615
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN)
E-mail: lohanlon@ohchr.org
7. Ms. Hina Jilani
Special Representative of the Secretary General for human rights defenders
Attn: Melinda Ching Simon
Room 1-040, c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 93 88
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS)
E-mail: MChingSimon@ohchr.org
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)
