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Even Though I Am Free I Am Not: The need for the campaign in 2015

January 8, 2015/in Member statements

Harvard war crimes report puts spotlight on transitional justice

December 4, 2014/in News

Paul Vrieze, Yangon, International Justice Tribune, No 171, 3 December, 2014 A recent independent report finds three senior military officers could be held responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed by Myanmar army personnel during an offensive against ethnic armed groups in the east of the country. Last month, the International Human […]

Even Though I Am Free I Am Not: The need for the campaign in 2015

January 8, 2015/in Member statements

Harvard war crimes report puts spotlight on transitional justice

December 4, 2014/in News

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Even Though I Am Free I Am Not: The need for the campaign in 2015

January 8, 2015/in Member statements

Even though I am free I am not. This was the message the groundbreaking 2010 photography campaign sought to convey to the world. The message that the burgeoning road to freedom in Burma would be forever blocked while political prisoners remained. Freedom is not solely liberation from prison. It is also the need for a free country, a Burma where political freedoms and civil liberties are respected and there no longer exist political prisoners. This photo campaign, initiated by award winning documentary journalist James MacKay and The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), in conjunction with the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), demonstrated the solidarity and commitment to each other amongst former and current political prisoners. 160 former prisoners were photographed and the event was debuted at the headquarters of Amnesty International in London in June 2010.

At the time of the 2010 campaign there were still thousands of political prisoners in Burma’s jails. The number currently incarcerated in 2015 is considerably less than that, with AAPP figures recognizing around 164 current political prisoners. These numbers do not adequately reflect the reality of the situation in Burma. The steady number of releases or amnesties gives the impression that the current government recognizes the basic rights and freedoms of their people, and support the release of wrongly imprisoned activists. In actuality the number of political and human rights activists imprisoned has steadily increased since the beginning of 2014, with no official recognition of their status as political detainees. They are still imprisoned as criminals, many repeatedly imprisoned for continuing to demonstrate their brave commitment to a free democratic Burma. The the commitment this campaign symbolizes is demonstrative of the belief that no political prisoners should be left behind as the country moves towards a democracy. This campaign ensures they will not be forgotten and their freedom will be fought for.

January 4th 2015 celebrates Independence Day in Burma, with 2015 looking to be a important year for the future of the country. Independence Day marks the liberation of the country from British Colonial rule in 1948. In 2015 it should also recognize the journey that lies in front of the country now. The discussion of Burma as being in the middle of a democratic transition fails to adequately take into account steps that still need to be taken. These steps include securing the freedom of all remaining political prisoners. The needs for reform at a constitutional and judicial level are also essential first steps to take before a true democratic transition can be enacted.

The country faces many different challenges and difficulties in the run up to elections in 2015. The issue of political prisoners has been dangerously close to falling from international agendas with other issues being deemed more pressing in Burma. While civilians are continuing to face repression, harassment, abuse and arrest for defending basic civil liberties, Burma will not achieve the free democratic status they desire. The human rights of the people are not being recognized or protected by the current government and arrests are showing no sign of abating. This campaign is as necessary now as it was when there were still thousands of political prisoners remaining in Burma.

We thank our supporters, friends, colleagues and fellow activists for the continued solidarity they show with civil society in Burma. The supporters of political prisoners remain steadfast in their assertion that there can be no national reconciliation in Burma while political prisoners remain. This campaign reiterates the call to immediately and unconditionally release all remaining political prisoners and end the ongoing arrests that still pervade in Burma.

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Harvard war crimes report puts spotlight on transitional justice

December 4, 2014/in News

Paul Vrieze, Yangon, International Justice Tribune, No 171, 3 December, 2014

A recent independent report finds three senior military officers could be held responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed by Myanmar army personnel during an offensive against ethnic armed groups in the east of the country.

Last month, the International Human Rights Clinic at the Harvard School of Law published a legal memorandum finding sufficient evidence to satisfy the standards set by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The report named the three officers, including current home affairs minister Major-General Ko Ko.

The army’s counterinsurgency policies occurred during a 2005-2008 offensive targeting the ethnic civilian population. Some 42,000 ethnic Karen were displaced in an effort to deprive rebels of support.

Lead researcher Matthew Bugher explained to IJT that the report was published to “help facilitate conversations about Myanmar’s past and on-going human rights abuses”, while also warning current army commanders that “they too could be held responsible for abuses”.

The report raises difficult questions about whether the country can begin the process of transitional justice to address and end rights abuses. Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is in the fourth year of a democratic transition away from decades of brutal military rule and ethnic conflict. Successive military regimes have imprisoned, tortured and killed thousands of political activists. Hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed, displaced or suffered abuses by the army during a decades-long civil war against armed groups seeking autonomy for oppressed ethnic minorities.

Prosecution far off

Tomás Ojea Quintana, who was the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar until April, believes the Harvard report offers an unprecedented amount of detailed evidence on military crimes during ethnic conflict. But, he says, successful prosecution in Myanmar is unlikely soon due to the remaining political powers of the old elite and the army. A constitutional clause grants immunity for crimes committed under the former regime. Plus, the civilian court system lacks independence from the government, while the military retains its own system to adjudicate in cases involving soldiers.

“The National Human Rights Commission told me they don’t have the mandate to address abuses by the army – it’s a reaction you get from all authorities regarding accountability,” Quintana told IJT. “The military is still in power to a large extent and so long as that is the case, such [legal] actions are very difficult.”

Bugher said he was encouraged that Myanmar’s defence minister agreed to meet him to discuss the report, although the official had dismissed the findings as “one-sided and inaccurate”.

National ceasefire negotiations in recent years have hit a deadlock and conflict continues in northern Myanmar. That said, the process has so far skirted the issue of transitional justice, according to Quintana, and plans for a truth commission dealing with the conflict have not been broached.

Non-judicial ways to address rights abuses, such as commemorations of episodes of abuse and repression, are only just beginning and limited to a few civil society organization initiatives, Quintana explained. “In Myanmar, the society, the people, have not really developed a discussion on this issue [transitional justice] and how to move forward,” he said.

Human rights on the agenda

Although opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) holds several seats in parliament, opposition lawmakers and many activists are reluctant to start public discussions. They fear that could cause the army and the ruling party to stymie the transition.

“Suu Kyi told me she doesn’t believe in revenge and finger-pointing, but she said for those who suffered human rights abuses there should measures taken to help them heal, perhaps through reparations – but then we haven’t seen any steps towards this,” Quintana said. If the NLD makes major parliamentary gains in next year’s election, as promised by the former juntaturned-civilian government, “there will be an opportunity to put human rights and transitional justice on the agenda”, he said. Long-term success of Myanmar’s democratic reforms requires steps to address past abuses, Quintana stressed.

Though reluctant to discuss possible prosecution of former regime members, NLD spokesman Nyan Win said: “To satisfy the citizens of Burma, we need a truth commission, like in South Africa. We have always said this – but at the time of a purely civilian government, not during this government. After next year’s election, we’ll have to look at this.”

According to Aileen Thomson, the International Center for Transitional Justice’s representative in Myanmar, “The challenge is that in this context, many people understand ‘transitional justice’ to mean criminal prosecutions motivated by revenge, and this is understandably not appealing. However, transitional justice is not about revenge, and not limited to prosecutions.”

The Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma – like many rights organizations, based in Thailand bacause it cannot work openly in Myanmar – has begun with non-judicial ways to address rights abuses, such as truth-telling and commemoration, which help victims and make information about abuses available for public discussion.

“These events are actually not allowed and organizers face some challenges and threats from police. It’s not easy, but people are trying to do this,” coordinator Han Min Soe said. His network has so far organized four truth-telling events for ex-political prisoners and victims of ethnic conflict, he said, adding that authorities actively blocked former regime officials from participating.

But some perpetrators want to confess, he noted. “They also feel like … victims because they feel guilty, but they cannot tell their stories to others.”

Spring Revolution

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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.

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