UNION OF MYANMAR：
Rohingya activist conditionally released

74-year-old human rights defender Kyaw Hla Aung has been arbitrarily detained in Myanmar since 15 July. He is in poor health and may not be receiving the medical treatment he requires. He is on trial, facing charges related to his peaceful activities.

Kyaw Hla Aung has been in arbitrary detention in Sittwe Police Station No. 1 in Myanmar’s Rakhine state since 15 July 2013. He suffers from hypertension (high blood pressure) and gastric problems and requires regular treatment with medicine. There is concern that he may not have access to appropriate medical treatment or a lawyer of his choosing and that the conditions of detention fail to meet international human rights standards.

Kyaw Hla Aung had been in hiding and in fear of arrest after the Myanmar authorities arrested several Muslim leaders following community protests against a government-led population registration exercise conducted in Rakhine state in April 2013. Tensions arose when members of the Rohingya community refused to identify themselves as “Bengali”, which is viewed by many as a divisive term used to deny recognition to the Rohingya community in Myanmar and imply that all Rohingya are actually migrants from Bangladesh. Protests forced the authorities to suspend the registration exercise. Kyaw Hla Aung was not present during the protests. Instead, he tried to contact other Muslim leaders in an attempt to stop the protests from becoming violent. He has likely been targeted as he is an influential Rohingya human rights defender with connections to the international community.

On 15 July 2013, a police officer and two plainclothes officials took Kyaw Hla Aung from his temporary shelter in Sittwe and brought him to the Sittwe police station for questioning. The police did not inform him of the charges against him at the time. He was reportedly brought before the Sittwe District Court on 31 July 2013, and has been charged under Articles 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon), 150 (hiring or conniving at hiring of persons to join an unlawful assembly), and 333 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt to a public servant to deter him from his duty) of the Myanmar Penal Code. Court sessions are reportedly due to continue on 14 August 2013. He remains detained in the Sittwe police station. According to credible sources, he has not been seen by a doctor in detention, and the authorities are not providing him the medicines he requires. He does not have access to clean drinking water or water for bathing, and family members have not been allowed to visit him in detention.

more

Human rights defender Kyaw Hla Aung remains arbitrarily detained in Myanmar over three months after he was arrested in connection with his peaceful activities. He has been charged with multiple offences and is facing a lengthy prison sentence. There are serious concerns regarding his lack of access to his lawyer.

Kyaw Hla Aung is currently on trial at the Sittwe District Court in Myanmar’s Rakhine state after he was arbitrarily arrested without charge and detained on 15 July 2013. Following the arrest, he was charged under Articles 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon), 150 (hiring or conniving at hiring of persons to join an unlawful assembly), and 333 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt to a public servant to deter him from his duty) of the Myanmar Penal Code. Additional charges were added to his case after his trial began on 14 August 2013, including offences under Articles 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 395 (robbery by an armed gang), 109 (abetting an offence) and 505(b) (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Penal Code. Article 505 (b), in particular, has been frequently used by the Myanmar authorities to stifle free expression and association in the country.

Amnesty International believes that Kyaw Hla Aung is being targeted as an influential human rights defender with connections to the international community, and that the charges against him have no basis. There are further concerns that Kyaw Hla Aung is not receiving adequate access to legal representation, as tensions around the trial have reportedly prevented his lawyer from attending court hearings, most recently on 25 October 2013. Access to legal representation is a fundamental component of the right to a fair trial and a key human right enshrined in international law. Kyaw Hla Aung’s legal team have reportedly petitioned the Supreme Court to move the trial to Yangon. The trial is due to continue in Sittwe on 8 November 2013.

Kyaw Hla Aung is currently detained at the Sittwe Prison. He was transferred from Sittwe Police Station No. 1 on 9 August. He suffers from ill-health; however, he is reportedly being visited by a doctor once a week in Sittwe prison.

more

Human rights defender Kyaw Hla Aung is in poor health in Sittwe prison, in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. He is suffering from arthritis and high blood pressure, however there are concerns he is not receiving adequate medical treatment in detention.

Kyaw Hla Aung, 75, has been arbitrarily detained for over six months in Sittwe prison. He is suffering from arthritis and high blood pressure and although he is visited by a doctor once a week, the prison does not provide him with the medicines that he needs. Conditions in Sittwe prison are believed to be making his arthritis worse and he is reportedly unable to bathe with hot water. He also suffers from the after-effects of his past years spent in detention. In particular, he reportedly suffers from swelling in the knees during cold periods.

Kyaw Hla Aung remains on trial facing a range of politically motivated charges after he intervened to prevent a protest turning violent in April 2013. Charges against him under Article 505(B) of the Penal Code – a law frequently used to criminalize peaceful dissent – were dropped as part of a December 2013 Presidential pardon; however, he is still facing a lengthy prison sentence if convicted for other charges. Concerns have also been raised about trial proceedings, including his access to legal representation. His trial is due to continue on 27 January.

Kyaw Hla Aung was arrested on 15 July 2013, the same day that Myanmar’s President Thein Sein promised that there would be no more prisoners of conscience in the country by the end of the year. Despite this promise, many prisoners of conscience – including Kyaw Hla Aung – are believed to be behind bars in Myanmar.

more

Human rights defender U Kyaw Hla Aung has been released from prison in Myanmar as part of a Presidential amnesty. Before being released he was required to sign a statement agreeing not to take part in any other “unlawful activities” or else he would be imprisoned again.

On 7 October, Rohingya Muslim human rights defender U Kyaw Hla Aung was released from Sittwe prison, Rakhine State in Western Myanmar. He was released as part of a prisoner amnesty announced by the Myanmar authorities earlier that day. Amnesty International understands that he was released because he had less than six months of his sentence left to serve. He is understood to be in poor health, and suffering from high blood pressure and arthritis.

U Kyaw Hla Aung was released under Article 401 of Myanmar’s Code of Criminal Procedure, which gives the President authority to release prisoners. Article 401 also provides that released prisoners can be taken back to prison to serve the remainder of their sentence if “any condition on which a sentence has been suspended or remitted is, in the opinion of the President of Union, not fulfilled”. On his release U Kyaw Hla Aung was required to sign a statement agreeing that he would not get involved in any other crime or “unlawful activities” or he would have to serve the remainder of his sentence.

U Kyaw Hla Aung had been in detention since his arrest on 15 July 2013. On 26 September 2014 a court in Sittwe found him guilty of “rioting” and sentenced him to 18 months in prison. Amnesty International considers the charges against him to have been politically motivated.

While Amnesty International welcomes the release of U Kyaw Hla Aung, the fact remains that he should never have been imprisoned in the first place.

Thank you to all those who sent appeals. No more action is required from the UA network.

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the fourth update of UA 213/14. Further information: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA16/022/2014/en 

Name: U Kyaw Hla Aung 

Gender m/f: m

Further information on UA: 213/13 Index: ASA 16/024/2014 Issue Date: 8 October 2014