Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is sorry to inform that as feared local officials in Rangoon appear to have successfully covered up their murder of a young man in March (UA-096-2007). The family of Ko Naing Oo has not been notified about any of the legal proceedings or other matters since his death, and the police also have reportedly threatened them not to attempt to take legal action over the case.
As previously reported, 36-year-old father Ko Naing Oo was reportedly beaten to death by council officials in the suburbs of Rangoon on 18 March 2007 due to a dispute with his in-laws. They then arranged for him to be promptly cremated.
According to the information since received, as the family lodged a complaint over the death, the matter went into the local court. However, the family was not informed when a hearing into the case was held on April 11, or that another would be on April 26. This is despite the fact that Naing Oo’s younger brother should be called as a witness, because he saw the victim lying dead in the council office on the morning of March 19.
The family has also expressed dissatisfaction that they have not been given any information about the post mortem report, although the doctor performing the autopsy had earlier promised that he would do it properly and according to law.
Meanwhile, Naing Oo’s father has reportedly been warned by the local police that if he tries to sue over his son’s death then his work as an import-export staff supervisor on the Rangoon dock will be affected.
On March 29 a local news journal also reported on the case and said that the autopsy had found that Naing Oo had died from natural causes while “sleeping soundly” at the council office where he had been brought for being drunk and disorderly. It underlined that nobody is responsible for his death other than himself.
Please refer to the original appeal for further details and sample letter.
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) (ua@ahrchk.org)
