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Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Myanmar Activist Gets Yet Another Jail Term in Pursuit of Justice
Htin Kyaw, the director of the political activist group Movement for Democracy Current Force (MDCF), was sentenced under Section 18 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law by the Bahan Township Court in central Yangon region, he told RFA’s Myanmar Service following the ruling.
Under the provision, demonstrators can be jailed for protesting without government permits.
He was found guilty on a charge of holding an unauthorized demonstration in April outside of Aung San Suu Kyi’s Yangon home.
Htin Kyaw disputed the charge, contending that he and others had only gone to the opposition leader’s home to seek her help in resolving the plight of Yangon’s Myangone township residents following their eviction.
“People from 293 households in No. 6 Block of Mayangone township were suffering from lack of food and shelter—that’s why we went to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s home and asked for help from her as she is a chairwoman of the [Parliamentary] Committee for Rule of Law and Peace and Stability,” he said.
“Because of this, I was sentenced today under Section 18. We were there to ask for help, not to protest,” he said.
“No matter what is written in current laws, the judicial system was influenced by the government’s decision today and we have to accept whatever they did to us.”
Wednesday’s sentence marks the third for Htin Kyaw in just over a month and at least the sixth under Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government, which took power from the former military junta in 2011 and pledged to start Myanmar on a path to democratic reform.
The activist was sentenced to three months in jail by the Kyauktada Township Court on June 4 for protesting against the forced eviction of residents of Thameekalay village in Hlegu township by local authorities, also under Section 18.
An amendment to this law, which removes the requirement for prior permission to protest peacefully, has been passed by Myanmar’s parliament and is awaiting Thein Sein’s signature.
Htin Kyaw has also been charged in 11 Yangon townships under Section 505(B) of the Penal Code—which makes it a crime to circulate information that could encourage a citizen “to commit an offense against the state or against public tranquility”—for handing out brochures expressing distrust of the government.
He was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison under the charge by the South Okkalapa Township Court on June 23.
Two other members of the MDCF, Tin Maung Kyi and Zaw Win, were sentenced to six months in jail under Section 505(B) Wednesday at Yangon’s Tamwe Township Court for their role in local protests. They are also facing trials in connection with protests in Bahan and Mingala Taungnyunt townships.
Longtime activist
Htin Kyaw’s most recent jailing also marks his fourth prison term under Thein Sein’s administration and fifth in seven years.
Imprisoned under Myanmar’ former military junta regime in 2007, the longtime activist resumed campaigning after his release under a political prisoner amnesty in January 2012, staging solo protests and leading land grab victims in demonstrations.
Last May, he was jailed for a week in Yangon’s notorious Insein Prison after refusing to post bail for his arrest on defamation charges linked to a protest he organized against an alleged forced eviction.
In August, after organizing another protest, he was again thrown into Insein Prison, where he staged a hunger strike against his detention, but was released on Dec. 11 as part of a presidential amnesty.
However, he was rearrested the same day as his release on charges of sedition and held until Thein Sein granted an additional pardon to political prisoners on Dec. 31.
Arbitrary detention
Earlier this year, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions released a report on Htin Kyaw’s detention in August, ruling that the activist had exercised his “right to freedom of opinion and expression and to freedom of association” by engaging in a peaceful protest against an eviction.
The ruling—made during the course of his detention—said Htin Kyaw had been wrongfully detained, called for his immediate release, and urged the government of Myanmar to make “reparations” to the activist.
Htin Kyaw continues to face charges in several Yangon townships for protests which often include walking through an area and announcing his opposition to Section 18 with a megaphone or standing outside court buildings holding placards denouncing the law.
Rights groups say Section 18 has been widely used to silence activists, arguing it is incompatible with reforms Myanmar has introduced in recent years as the country emerges from decades under military rule.
Section 18 carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine for violating rules outlined elsewhere in the law, passed in 2011 under Thein Sein’s government.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Delay Sesan dam: villagers
Villagers who will be displaced if the controversial Lower
Sesan II dam is built called on the developers yesterday to postpone
construction for five years, allowing time for a comprehensive
resettlement scheme to be devised.
But a government official dismissed their request as “beyond the pale”, saying the project had been carefully thought through and would benefit the whole nation.
Srey Lybe, 56, one of eight community representatives from Stung Treng province speaking in Phnom Penh yesterday, said his people stand to lose not just their land, but their traditional culture.
“We are deeply concerned about this dam construction, and if it happens, our ancestors’ graves will be buried in the reservoir basin,” he said.
“Relocating us, it means that our ethnic tradition and identity will be scattered and damaged.”
Many of the nearly 5,000 people who may need to relocate because of the dam are ethnic minorities, including Prov, Phnong and Lao.
Lybe added that the villagers were making the request after assessing several proposed relocation sites, which they say are not yet suitable for cultivation.
The 400-megawatt dam is a joint venture between Cambodian tycoon Kith Meng’s Royal Group and Hydrolancang International, a subsidiary of state-owned China Huaneng Group, which formed Hydropower Lower Sesan II Co Ltd in November 2012. In February, the Post revealed that preliminary construction at the dam site began in November 2013, despite official denials.
Mark Hanna, chief financial officer at the Royal Group, did not respond to a request for comment yesterday. Representatives of Lower Sesan II Company could not be reached.
Despite the villagers’ protests and criticism from civil society groups, the dam looks to be on schedule to be completed in 2017.
Doung Pov, Stung Treng provincial administration director, said the villagers’ request would not be considered.
“The government does it for the benefit of all Cambodians, not for one person. Before approving the project, the government thought a lot. And we are not stupid enough to place the villagers in a location where they cannot farm.”
After appearing in the National Assembly for questioning last month, Suy Sem, Minister of Mines and Energy, said that the dam will be completed in late 2017.
But a government official dismissed their request as “beyond the pale”, saying the project had been carefully thought through and would benefit the whole nation.
Srey Lybe, 56, one of eight community representatives from Stung Treng province speaking in Phnom Penh yesterday, said his people stand to lose not just their land, but their traditional culture.
“We are deeply concerned about this dam construction, and if it happens, our ancestors’ graves will be buried in the reservoir basin,” he said.
“Relocating us, it means that our ethnic tradition and identity will be scattered and damaged.”
Many of the nearly 5,000 people who may need to relocate because of the dam are ethnic minorities, including Prov, Phnong and Lao.
Lybe added that the villagers were making the request after assessing several proposed relocation sites, which they say are not yet suitable for cultivation.
The 400-megawatt dam is a joint venture between Cambodian tycoon Kith Meng’s Royal Group and Hydrolancang International, a subsidiary of state-owned China Huaneng Group, which formed Hydropower Lower Sesan II Co Ltd in November 2012. In February, the Post revealed that preliminary construction at the dam site began in November 2013, despite official denials.
Mark Hanna, chief financial officer at the Royal Group, did not respond to a request for comment yesterday. Representatives of Lower Sesan II Company could not be reached.
Despite the villagers’ protests and criticism from civil society groups, the dam looks to be on schedule to be completed in 2017.
Doung Pov, Stung Treng provincial administration director, said the villagers’ request would not be considered.
“The government does it for the benefit of all Cambodians, not for one person. Before approving the project, the government thought a lot. And we are not stupid enough to place the villagers in a location where they cannot farm.”
After appearing in the National Assembly for questioning last month, Suy Sem, Minister of Mines and Energy, said that the dam will be completed in late 2017.
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