Blog Elements – Page 518

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

What is the NLD Doing for Political Prisoners?

January 8, 2018/in News

It was Jan. 4, 2018. As it was also the 70th anniversary of Myanmar’s independence, I could not help thinking about my days in prison. Independence Day is one of the special occasions each and every prisoner looks forward to with high hopes. That is because of a custom of granting amnesty to prisoners and […]

Palaung Lawyer Detained After Gambling Den Shooting

December 29, 2017/in News

By LAWI WENG 29 December 2017 An ethnic Ta’ang (Palaung) lawyer has been detained by police in Muse Township in northern Shan State in connection with a shooting in Lashio in Kaung Mu Tong quarter on Dec. 22, Ta’ang Legal Aid (TLA) reported yesterday. Police accused Mai Myo Aung of involvement in a Dec. 22 confrontation in […]

What is the NLD Doing for Political Prisoners?

January 8, 2018/in News

Palaung Lawyer Detained After Gambling Den Shooting

December 29, 2017/in News

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

What is the NLD Doing for Political Prisoners?

January 8, 2018/in News

That is because of a custom of granting amnesty to prisoners and reducing jail sentences on every anniversary.

Everyone who has had to spend part of his or her life in prison knows how it feels. Prisoners cannot help feeling grateful to the government when they see some of their fellow inmates walk out of prison on such occasions, even if they themselves are not released. It is a fine practice among prisoners, despite being anti-government activists, to praise and thank the government for granting them amnesty.

Such days give hope to all types of prisoners. It is also a common practice among prisoners as these days approach to ask prison authorities for any unusual news from the outside.

All inmates look forward to these days because death sentences can be commuted, long sentences can be reduced and those about to complete their terms may be released.

I had not heard of anyone being released from prison under a general amnesty as I was writing this piece on Jan. 5. When I asked the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) about it, they said they had not heard of any releases either.

I could not help but empathize with the political prisoners in jails across Myanmar. They were surely extremely disappointed as their hopes were dashed. They have pinned all their hopes on such occasions.

When I saw that the government was organizing a grand New Year’s alms-offering ceremony and Dhamma talks attracting more than 100,000 devotees, I was confident there would be something for prisoners. I later came to learn that I had been completely wrong.

Back when the government’s ranks had no ex-political prisoners, amnesties and commuted sentences came every year. Former political prisoners were even allowed to form a committee to identify current political prisoners with the aim of getting them released.

A lot of political prisoners were freed this way. It has also become the norm for other inmates to be released alongside the political prisoners.

That is why I was confident that a government led by a party of former political prisoners would release the political prisoners left.

My expectations have proven to be wrong. It has been a long time since I last heard anything about political prisoners being identified. There are still about 100 political prisoners left in Myanmar, according to organizations of former political prisoners such as the AAPP.

The AAPP has even gone to the trouble of tracking down the original dossiers of the accused to identify people as political prisoners before adding them to its list. It found many cases in which what happened had nothing to do with the laws under which the victims were charged. The charges were fabricated intentionally to put the dissidents in prison, making it impossible to know if they are guilty or innocent based on the charges. The AAPP has carried out a thorough investigation to come up with a detailed list.

It was also revealed that there are about 120 lawmakers in the Union Parliament who were once political prisoners. There is no doubt that former political prisoners can empathize with their peers still behind bars. However, the question is why the representatives have not been able to help them. Why have they not tried to help them?

When I attended a ceremony to mark Independence Day at the headquarters of the NLD about 10 years ago, I was offered a badge with the name of a political prisoner on the back. When I asked about this, the party said it had chosen by lot a political prisoner for me to help.

The back of my badge said “Ma Khin Htar in Dawei Prison.” I was not able to help her because I myself soon became a political prisoner.

However, about two years after I was sent to prison a lady approached my family offering to help me because I had been chosen by lot for her. After consulting with my family, she sent me books to read in prison.

Such help can be of great benefit to a person in prison. It can give an inmate hope and strength. I later learned that the lady, Daw Sabel, had taught my son and daughter-in-law, and she has felt like a member of the family ever since.

I am deeply sad that the help and assistance the NLD offered when it was an opposition party disappeared after it came to power. I am just sad because I have not been able to find out why that has been so.

I believe the government has complete authority to release political prisoners. I am confident that no one can prevent it from, and interfere with it in, exercising that authority. It would be very ugly to write a history that says that about 120 former political prisoners were not able to come to the rescue of about 100 political prisoners behind bars.

What has been happening? Could you please help me find the answer?

Sai Nyunt Lwin is the secretary general of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy.

Irrawaddy News

Palaung Lawyer Detained After Gambling Den Shooting

December 29, 2017/in News

By LAWI WENG 29 December 2017

An ethnic Ta’ang (Palaung) lawyer has been detained by police in Muse Township in northern Shan State in connection with a shooting in Lashio in Kaung Mu Tong quarter on Dec. 22, Ta’ang Legal Aid (TLA) reported yesterday.

Police accused Mai Myo Aung of involvement in a Dec. 22 confrontation in a gambling den that escalated and left one person shot dead and another injured. He is being held at a police station in Muse’s Kaung Mu Tong quarter, the TLA said. The aid group and the man’s wife allege that the police have physically abused the lawyer and refused to release alleged video footage implicating him.

“He was not at the location of the shooting. He was not even aware there had been a shooting. He was at another location on personal business, but the police have accused him of involvement,” said Mai Shein Htun, a TLA committee member who is assisting the lawyer.

In a statement, the TLA said Mai Myo Aung had been beaten while in custody. His only contact with the outside world was through visits by his wife, it said.

“He told us that [police] wearing boots had kicked him and struck him with their guns while interrogating him,” Mai Shein Htun said.

TLA alleged that police assaulted Mai Myo Aung while demanding he provide information about a group of armed men who attacked the gambling den in the 105 Economic Zone in Muse Township. Mai Shein Htun said this was not the first time the man had suffered at the hands of police. “Whenever there is fighting near Muse, the police beat him [for information],” the TLA official said.

TLA representatives were allowed a brief meeting with Mai Myo Aung on Dec. 26 at the police station. Mai Shein Htun said the man showed signs of having been beaten, including bruises on his face.

According to police, on Dec. 22 three people arrived at the gambling den and got into a dispute with security guards. The three people in the car drove away, but returned later on motorbikes and shot the security guards, the police said.

Police allege that Mai Myo Aung was among the three, and that the other two suspects escaped.

Police Captain Aye Myint told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that Muse police have CCTV camera footage showing Mai Myo Aung and the other two suspects, Mai Kyaw Hein and Mai Aie Ohn, in a car.

“Firstly, these three got into a quarrel with security guards near the scene,” he said. “The three suspects were upset with the guards, and went home. They returned to the gambling den on motorbikes and shot the victims,” Aye Myint said.

Police have not provided any evidence to Mai Myo Aung’s family or his lawyer from TLA, despite having detained him based on the alleged CCTV footage. He was arrested at 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 22 after being stopped while driving to another village on personal business. The shooting incident occurred at 11 a.m. that day, police said.

Police have not formally charged the lawyer, but said he would be prosecuted under Penal Code sections 302 and 307. The TLA said the police were treating the suspect as if he had already been convicted, even resorting to physical abuse in an effort to force him to admit involvement in the crime.

Mai Myo Aung is a lawyer who helps TLA provide legal assistance to ethnic minority people who cannot afford their own.

Ei Awa, Mai Myo Aung’s wife, told The Irrawaddy that the police lacked evidence to back up the accusation, adding that he had been arrested some distance from the scene of the shooting. Furthermore, the police initially said the shooting had occurred at a pawnshop, rather than a gambling den, she said.

Ei Awa added that the police insisted she communicate with them in Burmese, rather than in her own Palaung language. She was not allowed to ask her husband for any details about what had occurred, or how he had got to the gambling station.

“I was only allowed to ask him about what he wanted to eat. I was not able to ask him about other issues,” she said. Police were present and monitored her conversation with her husband.

She said she saw a bruise under Mai Myo Aung’s left eye, and added that it was possible he had other injuries elsewhere on his body.

Topics: Conflict, Human Rights

Irrawaddy News

Spring Revolution

Civil Society Position Paper on ASEAN’s Goal of a Myanmar-Owned and -Led SolutionDecember 18, 2024 - 12:11 pm
Recommendations to ASEAN and Its Member States (1) Move beyond the 5PC to achieve a Myanmar people-led and people-centered solution to the crisis in Myanmar. ASEAN’s “Myanmar-owned and -led” approach must be backed by genuine political will that aligns with and supports the collective aspirations of the people of Myanmar. (2) Cease all pressure on […]
The Airstrikes after the journey to the China of the Junta Military LeaderDecember 10, 2024 - 1:28 pm
Operation 1027 was a coordinated military attack against the junta on October 27th, 2023. It was carried out by the Northern Brotherhood, which includes the Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army. Several months later, the Three Brotherhood Alliance held three meetings to negotiate with China on January 11 […]
Human Rights Situation weekly update (September 15 to 21, 2024)September 27, 2024 - 8:26 am
Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Sep 15 to 21, 2024 Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in Sagaing Region, Mandalay Region, Shan State, Chin State, Rakhine State, and Kachin State from September 15th to 21st. The Military Junta committed arresting, occupying the properties, threatening by using power, and […]

Multimedia

Reparation (Cartoon Animation)December 21, 2024 - 8:08 am
Human Rights Basic 4 signs Cartoon AnimationDecember 8, 2024 - 9:07 am
Human Rights Cartoon AnimationDecember 8, 2024 - 9:03 am
JusticeOctober 7, 2024 - 10:28 am

ND Burma

ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

ND Burma

Recent Posts