ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME
Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-128-2014
11 September 2014
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BURMA/MYANMAR: Police torture husband and pregnant wife who dies in custody
ISSUES: Torture; death in custody; police violence; impunity; arbitrary arrest and detention
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Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that police in the delta region of Burma in 2013 detained and tortured a young couple over an alleged theft, resulting in the death in custody of the wife, who was pregnant at the time. Although the police were investigated and subject to action under a police disciplinary law, before a police tribunal, they were not subjected to any criminal inquiry or prosecution in an ordinary court, and have returned to their jobs.
CASE NARRATIVE:
At the end of May 2013 a unit of police arrested Ko Nan Win after a quantity of gold went missing from a house where he had been doing work in his village in Bassein, which is part of Burma's delta region. The police allegedly tortured him to admit to the crime, including by stringing him from a beam and kicking and punching him. When he refused to admit, a policeman said that they would kill him. However, he said he couldn't let the police to kill him and then attempted to commit suicide by using a sharp material on his throat.
Although the police made no progress in the case against Nan Win, on June 11 they also arrested his wife, Ma Than Than Aye, for alleged involvement in the crime. Then interrogated her at a number of locations until June 17, and allegedly tortured her. Throughout this time both her and her husband were held illegally and their relatives were refused access to them.
Then on June 17 the police took Than Than Aye by boat to search for the hidden gold. They reportedly looked in three locations and recovered nothing. According to witnesses, at the time of the search a police officer leading the unit, Sub Inspector Naing Aung Kyaw, kept beating Than Than Aye.
As the group was nearing Pathein around 7pm in the dark on their return, Than Than Aye allegedly jumped from the vessel on the Ngawun River and drowned. She was two months pregnant at the time.
When Than Than Aye's body was recovered it could be observed (and is clear in photographs taken) that her hands were cuffed behind her back, and one leg also was cuffed and chained, casting doubt on the police story that she would dive into the water when unable to swim.
Subsequently, due to lack of evidence against the accused the Pathein Township Court acquitted the surviving accused.
After an investigation by higher officers, action was taken against the police involved under a disciplinary law. Sub Inspector Naing Aung Kyaw was suspended for his post and given a one-year custodial sentence. His subordinates were all demoted one rank.
This investigation and punishment is in no way adequate or commensurate with the offence. Indeed, as the name of the law indicates, it is an internal disciplinary law, imposed through police courts, and not a criminal law decided through the ordinary courts. As such, the case needs to be reopened and action be taken against the police under the criminal law, for arbitrary detention, torture and death in custody.
Further details are provided in the sample letter below, as usual.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
In Burma, torture is widespread in police stations, where it most commonly takes the form of beatings and other blunt methods intended to cause pain and obtain a confession. In normal criminal cases like murder, rape and robbery, police have to take immediate action and give a report to the higher authorities promptly, so they usually look for an easy target and use torture to get a confession or otherwise make the detainee do what they want.
In the previous urgent appeals the AHRC has express its concern over police and military intelligence torture, sometimes resulting in death, such as in the cases of Soe Lin, Zaw Gyi, U Nyunt Tun, U Than Tun, Aung Hlaing Win, Myo Myint Swe, and Nan Woh Phan. In most cases also the court ignores the evidence of torture, to convict the accused.
Torture is not a criminal offence in Burma and police are rarely held to account for the abuses committed on detainees in their custody. A member of parliament in March 2013 made a statement on the need for a law against torture and for Burma to join the UN Convention against Torture, but up to the current time no action has been taken.
For many more cases and issues concerning human rights in Burma, visit the AHRC's country homepage: http://www.humanrights.asia/countries/burma.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to the following government authorities to urge that all those responsible for the torture of Nan Win and torture and death of Than Than Aye be prosecuted in an ordinary court of law for criminal offences, and for compensation to be paid to the surviving victim.
Please note that for the purpose of the letter Burma is referred to by its official name, Myanmar, and Bassein, Pathein.
Please also be informed that the AHRC is writing separate letters to the UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights in Myanmar, on torture, on extrajudicial killings; the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; and, the regional office in Bangkok, calling for their interventions into this matter.
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear ………………,
MYANMAR: Police torture a husband and wife accused of theft; pregnant wife dies in custody
Names of victims:
1. Ko Nan Win, husband of second victim, aged 26
2. Ma Than Than Aye, wife of first victim, deceased at age 28, while two months pregnant
Residents of Thabyebin Village, Pathein Township, Ayeyawady Region, Myanmar
Names of persons involved:
1. Inspector Kyi Lin, station chief, Thinbawgyin Police Station, Pathein
2. Sub Inspector Naing Aung Kyaw, crime investigator, Thinbawgyin Police Station
3. Police Sergeant Kyi Lin, Thinbawgyin Police Station
4. Police Corporal Ne Htun, Thinbawgyin Police Station
5. Police Corporal Zaw Min Htun, Thinbawgyin Police Station
6. Police Lance Corporal Kyaw Lin Naing, Thinbawgyin Police Station
7. Police personnel at the Pathein Township Police Headquarters (Myetto Camp) & Athegyi Camp
8. Dr. U Myint Aung
Date of incident: 30 May 2013 and subsequently
Place of incident: Ayeyawady Region, Myanmar
Case details (against victim):
1. Criminal Case No. 1619/2014, Pathein Township Court, Penal Code section 380, case brought by Daw Myint Myint, acquitted on 30 July 2014, Township Judge U Aung Myin presiding
I am outraged to learn that police in Myanmar on a complaint of simple theft would illegally detain and torture a young couple, resulting in the death of a pregnant woman in their custody. Although the police have been subjected to procedures in special police courts under a disciplinary law, these actions fall far short of what international human rights standards, and even the ordinary domestic law require in such an instance. I demand that the officers involved be investigated and brought to justice, and that the surviving victim obtain compensation and rehabilitation.
According to the information I have received, a unit of police led by Sub Inspector Naing Aung Kyaw arrested Ko Nan Win on 30 May 2013 after a quantity of gold went missing from the house of U Ohn Than and Daw Myint Myint in Thabyebin Village, Pathein Township, where he had been doing some work on the property. Accusing Nan Win of theft, they allegedly proceeded to torture him severely in an attempt to have him admit to stealing the gold.
Nan Win alleges that the police—including the police chief of the Thinbawgyin station—strung him from a beam and proceeded to kick and punch him to admit to the crime. When he refused to admit, a policeman said that they would kill him. However, he said he couldn't let the police to kill him and then attempted to commit suicide by using a sharp material on his throat. After that they stopped the torture and called for Dr. U Myint Aung to tend to the wounds.
Although the police made no progress in the case against Nan Win, on June 11 they also arrested his wife, Ma Than Than Aye, for alleged involvement. According to her father, seven armed police came to search his hut, where his daughter had come after her husband's arrest, and they then said that they had a few questions for Than Than Aye.
The police interrogated Than Than Aye from June 11 to 17, holding her variously at the Pathein Township Police Headquarters (Myetto Camp), Athegyi Camp and Thinbawgyin Police Station, during which time they allegedly tortured her. Throughout this time both her and her husband were held illegally and their relatives were refused access to them.
Then on June 17 the police took Than Than Aye by boat to search for the hidden gold in Thabyebin Village: they reportedly looked in three locations and recovered nothing. According to witnesses, at the time of the search Sub Inspector Naing Aung Kyaw kept beating Than Than Aye. As they were nearing Pathein around 7pm in the dark on their return she allegedly jumped from the vessel on the Ngawun River and drowned. She was two months pregnant at the time.
When Than Than Aye's body was recovered it could be observed (and is clear in photographs taken) that her hands were cuffed behind her back, and one leg also was cuffed and chained, casting doubt on the police story that she would dive into the water when unable to swim.
Subsequently, due to lack of evidence against the accused the Pathein Township Court acquitted the surviving accused.
After an investigation by higher officers, action was taken against the police involved under the Myanmar Police Force Maintenance of Discipline Law, 1995. Sub Inspector Naing Aung Kyaw was suspended for his post and given a one-year custodial sentence. His subordinates were all demoted one rank.
This investigation and punishment is in no way adequate or commensurate with the offence. Indeed, as the name of the law indicates, it is an internal disciplinary law, imposed through police courts, and not a criminal law decided through the ordinary courts. As such, I urge that the case be reopened and action be taken against the police under the criminal law, for arbitrary detention, torture and death in custody.
I also urge that compensation and rehabilitation be given to the surviving victim, Nan Win, whose body reportedly still suffers from the torture. The scars on his neck are clearly visible, and he experiences chest and back pain. He breathes with difficulty.
In closing, I remain very concerned that impunity is still widely enjoyed by state agents who have committed torture in Myanmar despite the government's recent political reforms. I have learned that groups inside the country have called on its parliamentarians to pass a law to criminalize torture, and that in March 2013 a Member of Parliament also raised the matter in the national legislature. I urge that steps be taken to introduce such a law at the earliest opportunity. Again, any such law needs to be in accordance with international standards. In this regard, a positive commitment to the prohibition of torture as a matter of principle would be for the government of Myanmar to at long last ratify both the UN Convention against Torture and its optional protocols, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
I look forward to your positive and effective response in this case.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Lt-Gen. Ko Ko
Minister for Home Affairs
Ministry of Home Affairs
Office No. 10
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: +95 67 412 079
Fax: +95 67 412 439
2. U Thein Sein
President of Myanmar
President Office
Office No.18
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
3. U Tun Tun Oo
Chief Justice
Office of the Supreme Court
Office No. 24
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: + 95 67 404 080
Fax: + 95 67 404 059
4. Dr. Tun Shin
Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Office No. 25
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: +95 67 404 088
Fax: +95 67 404 146/ 106
5. U Kyaw Kyaw Htun
Director General
Myanmar Police Force
Ministry of Home Affairs
Office No. 10
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: +95 67 412 079
Fax: +951 549 663 / 549 208
6. Thura U Aung Ko
Chairman
Pyithu Hluttaw Judicial and Legislative Committee
Pythu Hluttaw Office
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
7. U Aung Nyein
Chairman
Pyithu Hluttaw Judicial and Legislative Committee
Committee for Public Complaints and Appeals
Office of the Amyotha Hluttaw
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
8. U Win Mra
Chairman
Myanmar National Human Rights Commission
27 Pyay Road
Hlaing Township
Yangon
MYANMAR
Tel: +95-1-659 668
Fax: +95-1-659 668
9. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
Chairwoman
Pyithu Hluttaw Rule of Law and Tranquility Committee
Office of the Pyithu Hluttaw
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
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