ASIA OBSERVER HAS RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING RELEASE FROM ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION:
BURMA: UN group to examine case of seven detainees
(Hong Kong, March 1, 2007) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
on Thursday sent a detailed report on the illegal and arbitrary
detention of seven persons in Burma to a United Nations specialist
group.
The Hong Kong-based regional organisation submitted the 22-page
document to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on the case
of Hkun Htun Oo and six others who were convicted of treason in 2005.
"We have issued a number of appeals on the case detailing the many
legal and procedural flaws during the arrest, trial and conviction of
the original nine accused," Kim Soo A, urgent appeals coordinator of
the AHRC, said.
"They were arrested without warrants, denied access to lawyers, tried
at a special tribunal without jurisdiction under inapplicable laws on
multiple charges concerning the same alleged offences, and given
insufficient opportunities to present witnesses or cross-examine
those for the prosecution," she said.
"The working group contacted us and asked that we submit further
documentation on the seven men still in detention, which we have done
today," Kim said.
"We look forward to its intervention," she added.
Of the two other accused, one died in custody during 2005 while the
other appeared as a state witness and was released.
The seven still in prison were sentenced to between 75 and 106 years
for their supposed roles in forming an anti-government organisation,
which they claim was a body aimed at bringing peace to northeastern
Shan state, which borders China, Laos and Thailand.
The region has been plagued by years of civil conflict and remains
home to one armed group still at war with the government, alongside
numerous ceasefire groups and militias.
Three of the seven are members of the Shan National League for
Democracy, a registered political party that was chaired by Hkun Htun
Oo.
In its 2006 country report, the AHRC referred to Burma's courts and
law-enforcement agencies as a "system of injustice", and said that
its judges share responsibility with its generals for "the
demoralised state the country is in today".
The report is available on line, at:
http://material.ahrchk.net/hrreport/2006/Burma2006.pdf
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About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional
non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights
issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.
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