[RE: UA-141-2005: BURMA: Alleged rape of a woman by two police officers in Twente Township; UP-008-2006: BURMA: Two police to go to court over alleged rape; UP-039-2006: BURMA: Unnecessary delays in trial of two police accused of rape; UP-039-2006: BURMA: Unnecessary delays in trial of two police accused of rape]
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UP-075-2006: BURMA: Two police jailed for rape
BURMA: Rape; impunity; violence against women; corruption; un-rule of law
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Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to inform you that two police officers charged with rape in Burma have been sentenced to seven years in prison. However, the conviction only came due to the exceptional determination of the victim and the overwhelming evidence, in spite of the absence of avenues for complaints against state authorities there.
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 and UA-141-2005). In a further update at the start of March, the AHRC added that there was evidence that the trial was being deliberately delayed (UP-039-2006).
However, apparently in response to pressure, the judge presiding over the case, Judge U Zaw Zaw Than, quickly worked his way through the 12 witnesses posted by the defence and concluded hearing the case on March 30.
On Friday, April 7, the Twente Township Court sentenced each of the accused–Police Constables Tin Ko Oo and Kyaw Myo Min, and a civilian named Naing Lin–to seven years in prison.
Although the conviction is a success in a country where it is very difficult to lodge any complaint against a government official on any grounds, the sentence is relatively low. The perpetrators were found guilty of offences for which they could have been jailed for 20 years.
In comments to the Yoma 3 News Service (Thailand) a local person said that the whole town knows about the case and acknowledged that it was only due to the determination of Ma Soe Soe not to have other women suffer the same as she that it succeeded.
FURTHER DETAILS OF ORIGINAL INCIDENT
The AHRC has also obtained through Yoma 3 the transcript of an interview with Ma Soe Soe in which she describes her ordeal and the subsequent efforts to get the case taken up.
She begins with how she and her two friends, Ma Cho Oo and her husband Ko Naing Oo, were stopped by the police as they were walking home from work on the night of 12 June 2005. When they could not show their identity cards, the police searched them. Naing Oo told the police that if they were not sure about their identities then they could go back to their workplace and meet the boss, whereupon one of the police punched him. Both of the women then asked the police not to hit Naing Oo. The police then took the three off the roadside and pulled Soe Soe away from her companions. They hit her in the mouth each time she begged them not to, after which she was kicked to the ground and Police Constable Kyaw Myo Min pulled down his trousers and raped her.
At that time the three witnesses came past, and Soe Soe called for help. She recalls that the three stopped and called back. Then the police officer raping her called out, “What’s it got to do with you? … Don’t you know who I am?” after which he got up and ran at the three, causing them to run away. Then the other officer, Tin Ko Oo, came and asked her, “Hey, do you want to really scream?” after which he handcuffed her and pulled her along the Nyaung Waing road. Kyaw Myo Min joined them and began cursing Soe Soe, then threatening her: “You know who I am? Go ahead and scream. I’ll beat you dead.”
The two took Soe Soe back to a stall at the market, she says, where Constable Kyaw Myo Min ordered her to perform oral sex on him and then went off. After that Constable Tin Ko Oo came and removed all of his clothes and raped her. When Soe Soe begged him to stop with her hands in supplication on her forehead, he told her to “shut her trap”. Then their civilian accomplice Naing Lin came and they discussed about what to do with Soe Soe’s two friends. After that he said that they would let Soe Soe go and told her to cooperate or they would throw her in the lockup, before also raping her. At that time, someone else appeared nearby and the two police stopped him. After a short time Naing Lin went to join them. As Soe Soe was no longer handcuffed and they were not watching her closely, she fled the scene and went home.
THE STRUGGLE TO GET THE CASE THROUGH THE COURT
The next morning, Ma Soe Soe went to speak with some senior people in the town and then went to make a complaint at the police station. Her description of the process that followed shows that even in a case such as this where the police superintendent of the station took credence of the complaint, the way in which such a case is managed in Myanmar is in complete disregard of the rights and interests of the victim, despite the fact that the government has established various organisations purportedly for the purpose of protecting women’s rights.
According to Soe Soe, when she lodged the case the police officer on duty called the station superintendent who interrogated Soe Soe himself, while another policeman recorded the testimony. Then the superintendent called her out from the room and in front of the three alleged perpetrators. She identified them and in front of everyone said what each one did to her in detail. However, Soe Soe says that later it was found out that the police did not fully record her testimony, and it was only after a more senior officer intervened that everything was recorded as she stated in the first instance. Similarly, a police belt recovered from the scene had supposedly been lost after being kept by township officials, and only after they were told that they would be brought into the case in court was it also recovered.
On June 14, two days after the incident, Soe Soe was taken by vehicle for medical examination in Rangoon where she was again repeatedly asked about what happened. She was also taken to the scene of the incident and asked again in detail, and had her photographs taken there, and then had to go and take a second set because “the first set was no good because of rain”.
When the police realised that they were in trouble, they offered money to drop the case. Ma Soe Soe says that:
“They offered 120,000 (USD 110) each. But I am worried for coming generations of women in our country, for my daughters. We are poor, but we have our dignity and virtue inside. I have no desire for this money. What I need is for them all who have committed this wrong to be seriously punished. This is what I want to say.”
In the court, Soe Soe was subjected to sneering and pressure by the defence attorney. Burma is a sexually repressed and closed society. However, in the case, the lawyer used the opportunity to embarrass the victim as much as possible, asking details about positions and actions and causing smiles and snickering among the defendants. Soe Soe says that she refused to be deterred and answered every question fully.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the Attorney General to acknowledge the conviction but ask that the case be reviewed in consideration of the relatively light sentence handed to the perpetrators. Please also ask that the Attorney General submit proposals to the government for improving the arrangements for complaints in cases of rape and violence against women, particularly where the perpetrators are state officers. 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: Conviction of two police constables in Twente Township Court for rape
Name of victim: Ma Soe Soe, 30 years old, married with three children, residing in Myathida ward, Twente town, Yangon Division
Name of perpetrators: Police Constables Tin Ko Oo & Kyaw Myo Min; a civilian, Naing Lin
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 Than presiding; decided on 7 April 2006, all accused sentenced to seven years in prison
I am pleased to hear that two police constables and an accomplice were found guilty of rape and kidnapping by the Twente Township Court under Penal Code sections 366 and 376 on 7 April 2006. I also appreciate the fact that the case was completed quickly by the court in its latter stages.
Although I understand that the accused were found guilty under both sections, they were only sentenced to seven years in prison. This is in spite of the fact that sections 366 and 376 both carry a prison term of up to ten years.
Accordingly, in view of the severity of the offence, the overwhelming evidence and the fact that the offending persons were police officers, I urge you to instruct the Twente Township Law Office to consider posting an application for a review of the sentence, to increase it beyond seven years, in accordance with section 9(l) of the Attorney General Law 2001.
I am also aware that Ma Soe Soe had to overcome enormous obstacles to lodge the complaint and have it taken up by the court, and a conviction secured. These occurred at all stages and from all parties to the case, including the perpetrators themselves, the police investigators and the court. All of these indicate the lack of protection for women victims of violence--especially sexual violence--in Myanmar, and the need for the government of Myanmar to establish effective and easy channels for legitimate complaints, most of all where state officials are the alleged perpetrators. In view of your country's obligations under international law, in particular the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), I urge you to advise the concerned authorities on making revisions to criminal procedure in order to afford better protection to women who are victims of violence in Myanmar, especially to ensure that there are specialised independent channels and trained female officers to receive and manage complaints; and, discrete procedures to protect women from further victimisation during investigation and in the courts.
Finally, I urge you to recommend to the Government of Myanmar, in accordance with your duties under section 3(f) of the Attorney General Law, that it ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights without delay. The convention is a cornerstone of the international bill of rights, and until such a time as your government has joined it there will be persistent serious questions over its commitment to fundamental human rights and their implementation.
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 Than
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)
