woensdag 27 januari 2010

DON'T LET IT HAPPEN


Tanda Tun for sixteen years in prison ?
DON'T LET IT HAPPEN !

maandag 25 januari 2010

Act! Write! Stand Up and use Your Liberty to promote theirs

[place], [date]

Subject: Thanda Tun, Ko Maung Nyo, Appeal for Human Rights.

Dear [General][Minister],

As you will be aware, Amnesty International speaks out on behalf of victims of Human Rights violations. We have strong evidence that Thanda Tun and Ko Maung Nyo, members of a humanitarian organization, are such victims. Unfortunately, we do not know for certain their current state of health. We care for them. Can you disclose any information concerning Thanda Tun aka Thandar and Ko Maung Nyo? If anyone can supply reliable information about them, it should be you.

It has been brought to our attention that both have been arrested early September 2009, and have been tortured during their custody and interrogation in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and made Prisoners of Conscience. Article 9 codifies the right not to be arrested randomly, Article 19 grants Freedom of expression and Article 20 Freedom of peaceful assembly. Have these provisions been violated in the case of Thanda Tun and Ko Maung Nyo? Can you confirm that they are presently in Insein prison, under trial? Is it correct that Thandar’s health is deteriorating as we fear and suspect? Can you do anything to help Thanda Tun and Ko Maung Nyo? Can you make sure their basic rights are complied with?

It is essential that compliance with Human Rights provisions is not merely in the interest of the victim of violation. It is in the interest of the violator himself. He is just as degraded. He is a victim himself.

Human Rights are not everything. But without Human Rights everything else is nothing. They are a sine qua non of any societal entity that is to last longer than a few decades. This counts for economic development, cultural achievement and political power. As a military and political thinker you will be aware of the dialectics of power. True political power, enduring power, can never be maintained at the expense of Human Rights. Over and over, world history shows that a power structure built on oppression and violence is a power structure built on sand. It will crush under its own weight, sooner rather than later. Critical voices and free spirits from inside and outside will undermine its foundations. The wind of justice will blow it away. With all due respect, if your regime plans to stay in power after the 2010 it will have to instigate major changes.

Human Rights are not a remnant of Western colonialism, nor are they an instrument of capitalist imperialism. They are a basic human need, they are universal, they are deeply rooted in all world religions and correspond profoundly with human intuition - worldwide. It would be a noteworthy step towards integration into the international community as well as ASEAN regional cooperation if Myanmar's Human Rights' situation were to improve.
Some dialogue and transparency might be first positive signals.

We would appreciate if you could set an example with Thanda Tun and Ko Maung Nyo. They stand pars pro toto for many other democracy activists. Their release would certainly be perceived as a very progressive gesture.

Respectfully yours,
[name, address]

PLEASE SEND APPEALS ASAP:

Senior General Than Shwe
Chairman
State Peace and Development Council
c/o Ministry of Defence,
Naypyitaw, Union of Myanmar
Salutation:Dear General

Minister for Home Affairs
Maung Oo
Ministry of Home Affairs
Office No. 10
Naypyitaw, Union of Myanmar
Fax: +95 67 412 439
Salutation: Dear Minister

Minister of Information
Brigadier-General Kyaw Hsan
Ministry of Information
Bldg. (7), Naypyitaw,
Union of Myanmar
media.moi@mptmail.net.mm
Salutation: Dear Minister

Additionally:
Union of Myanmar, Ministry of Information,
Myanmar Radio & Television (M.R.T.V), Pyay Road,
Yangon. Phone: 951-532814, Fax: 951-525428.

Minister of Foreign Affairs
Nyan Win
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Naypyitaw, Union of Myanmar
Salutation: Dear Minister

And to diplomatic representatives for Myanmar of your own country.

zondag 24 januari 2010

Copy of letter by The BestFriends to concerned organizations/institutions

Dear......

On behalf of the The Best Friend organisation, I wish to inform you of our concerns about three of our members who were arrested in Burma in 2009 and have been in detention ever since.
Thanda Tun and Ko Nyo (Maung Nyo) were arrested, apparently together with a monk named Ashin Kawvida, last September in Mandalay. Thanda Tun and Ko Nyo are imprisoned in Insein Prison in Yangon, awaiting trial. They are charged under the Immigration Act, for holding foreign currency and for contacting exiled monks organizations.
Ashin Gositha, a monk from Yangon, was arrested at the airport upon his return from Taiwan. He is believed to be in Insein Prison.
We are very concerned about their safety and health. We believe they were arrested and imprisoned solely because of their right to express their beliefs and their support for freedom and democracy in Burma. They are no criminals and should be released immediately and unconditionally.
Amnesty International is aware of their cases and is also concerned about their situation.
As The Best Friend organization, we believe in freedom and democracy and peacefully strive to create change and improvement in the situation in Burma. Our members should not be harassed, imprisoned or tortured for doing this. They should be free to carry out their human rights activities.
We hope, you can be of help in these cases and we thank you very much for your attention to this matter.
Yours sincerely,
On behalf of The Best Friend - www.thebestfriend.org,

xxxx
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

zaterdag 23 januari 2010

Take action please



PLEASE SEND APPEALS ASAP:

Minister for Home Affairs
Maung Oo
Ministry of Home Affairs
Office No. 10
Naypyitaw, Union of Myanmar
Fax: +95 67 412 439
Salutation: Dear Minister

Minister of Information
Brigadier-General Kyaw Hsan
Ministry of Information
Bldg. (7), Naypyitaw,
Union of Myanmar
media.moi@mptmail.net.mm
Salutation: Dear Minister

Additionally:
Union of Myanmar, Ministry of Information,
Myanmar Radio & Television (M.R.T.V), Pyay Road,
Yangon. Phone: 951-532814, Fax: 951-525428.

Minister of Foreign Affairs
Nyan Win
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Naypyitaw, Union of Myanmar
Salutation: Dear Minister

And to diplomatic representatives for Myanmar of your own country.

---------------------------------------------------------
Example letter
---------------------------------------------------------

(Place, date)



Dear Minister,

Please allow me to draw your attention to the case of Thanda Tun and Ko Maung Nyo. They are members of TheBestFriends. Their arrest early September 2009 took place in the library of The Best Friend in Mandalay and is related to the September 2007 uprising. They are still in Insein Prison on charges of 13/1 illegally crossing the border, section 7 setting up the organization without permission [connecting to exile monks] and 24/1 holding and changing foreign currency illegally. Together with Ye Myint, U Yaywata, U Kawthita, U Withudi, U Waryama and Kyaw Khin they were charged under the Unlawful Associations Act and the Immigration Act. The trial started in January 6 2010 and is scheduled to be concluded this month.
Five of the above reportedly do not have lawyer assistance, and relatives of all eight defendants had been barred from visiting them since their arrest.

I call on you to ensure that all eight defendants are released immediately and unconditionally. I ask that while they remain in detention they are given access to necessary medical treatment, to lawyers of their own choosing and to visitors, and to ensure that they are not tortured or otherwise ill-treated.

Yours sincerely,

(name, address)

donderdag 21 januari 2010

Human Rights 'Deteriorating' in Burma: HRW

By ARKAR MOE Thursday, January 21, 2010

Burma's human rights record continued to deteriorate in 2009 ahead of a scheduled elections in 2010, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

In its 612-page World Report 2010, the New York-based NGO said, "The Burmese military junta systematically denies citizens basic freedoms, including freedom of expression, association and assembly.” 

Dozens of prominent political activists, Buddhist monks, labor activists, journalists and artists were arrested in Burma in 2009 and sentenced to draconian prison terms after unfair trials, the organization said, noting that the military government's human rights record continued to deteriorate last year ahead of an election announced for 2010.

In its 20th annual review of human rights practices around the globe, HRW summarized major human rights trends in more than 90 nations and territories worldwide.

It said attacks on rights monitors were not limited to authoritarian countries such as Burma and China.

"Attacks on rights defenders might be seen as a perverse tribute to the human rights movement, but that doesn't mitigate the danger," Executive Director Kenneth Roth wrote in the introduction to the World Report 2010. "Under various pretexts, abusive governments are attacking the very foundations of the human rights movement."

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Aung Myo Min, the director of Thailand-based Human Rights Education Institute of Burma, said, “The Burmese military junta commits systematic human rights abuses and crimes against humanity every year.”

Bo Kyi, the joint-secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma, pointed the finger at Russia and China, saying the two countries "supported Burma and other regimes that are committing human rights abuses.”

He added: "The United Nations has many weaknesses because it cannot take action against abusers of human rights. It should revise and amend its policies and mechanisms on human rights.”

Of detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial last year, the report said, "The trial dragged on for three months, with frequent delays and with international fair trial standards lacking.”

It said that “an estimated 2,100 political prisoners remain incarcerated for their peaceful activities in Burma. More than 230 Buddhist monks involved in the 2007 protests remain in prison.”

In 2009, international calls increased for an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma, and for a UN arms embargo to be imposed,” the report said. "But China, Russia and North Korea still sell arms to the Burmese military junta.”

The report also criticized the Burmese armed forces. “The Burmese military continues to perpetrate violations against civilians in ethnic conflict areas, including extrajudicial killings, forced labor and sexual violence,” it said, expressing concern about internally displaced people, refugees and child soldiers.

HRW said that despite the growth in the human rights movement, human rights defenders remain vulnerable and greatly in need of support by rights-respecting governments.

"Governments that consider themselves human rights supporters often keep silent in the face of these abuses by allies, citing diplomatic or economic priorities," Roth said. "But that silence makes them complicit in the abuse. The only proper response to serious human rights violations is to turn up the heat on the abusers."

“There is no country in the world which fully respects human rights," said Aung Myo Min. "Most world powers, including the US, China and Russia, have cooperated with human rights abusers in their national interests or as an act of economic or foreign policy.”

The report said human rights monitors had been killed in Russia, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Burundi and Afghanistan, while Sudan and China routinely shut down human rights groups.

Eight charged for Sept 2007 activities

Eight charged for Sept 2007 activities
Jan 21, 2010 (DVB)–Eight activists have been charged for their role in the September 2007 uprising, more than two years after police in Burma launched a brutal crackdown on peaceful protests.

The eight men, who include four monk and a school teacher, were arrested last year during a crackdown that coincided with the two-year anniversary of the so-called Saffron Revolution.
Lawyer Kyaw Ho, who is representing two of the men, Thandar Htun and Ko Nyo, said that all eight were charged under the Unlawful Associations Act and the Immigration Act, which together carry a maximum seven-year sentence.
The other defendants are Ye Myint, U Yaywata, U Kawthita, U Withudi, U Waryama and Kyaw Khin.
“They were…[accused] of having contacts with the All Burma Monks Association and the Generation Wave [activist groups], and also charged under the Immigration Act for illegally crossing border to meet with those groups,” said Kyaw Ho.
He added there was “no legitimacy” in making his clients, who were arrested in their hometown of Mandalay, stand trial in Rangoon.
Five of the men reportedly do not have lawyer assistance, while Kyaw Ho said that relatives of the eight had been barred from visiting them since their arrest.
The Burmese government in September last year launched a crackdown on people suspected of involvement in fomenting the 2007 uprising, in which thousands of civilians, led by monks, took to the streets of Burma initially to protest against a hike in fuel prices.
The demonstrations quickly became a show of force against the military regime, which responded by firing into crowds and killings hundreds.
Burma’s revered monk community was targeted in the crackdown. According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), more than 250 monks are currently held in Burmese prisons.

woensdag 20 januari 2010

Ko Maung Nyo


Ko Maung Nyo......aka Mr. Brown....he lived at the Library of theBestFriends
Born in 1975 Kyaukse, Mandalay division and native Yay-Pote village. He was arrested with Thanda Tun on 3 september 2009. He stayed in the library of The Best Friend in Mandalay where he was arrested.

He has, like Thanda Tun, been charged with 3 sections of Law, 13/1 of illegally crossing the border, 7 of connecting to exile monks, and 24/1 of holding foreign money by western Rangoon district court in Insein prion. He is currently detained in Insein Prison, where the trial started on January 6, 2010.

In the spirit of Peter Benenson, let us write to those in Naypyidaw, the secretive and paranoid military government of Burma, to the Diplomats around the world, shout it out loud in the streets where you live, and ACT! Stand up, get up, USE your LIBERTY to promote THEIRS!

dinsdag 19 januari 2010

what does Thanda look like????

Courts rush to conclude trials

Courts rush to conclude trials Tuesday, 19 January 2010 16:07 Mizzima News - The special courts inside Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison are said to be in a hurry to complete trials against more than 20 political activists within a month, according to lawyers defending the activists.

A lawyer, defending activists in Rangoon, said “We were told that the court wanted to conclude the trails against political activists as soon as possible. So, it has scheduled the hearings to be held twice a week. We don’t know if the court can give a verdict within a month.” “These days, the trials are faster than earlier. Normally, court hearings are scheduled once a week but now it is twice a week. They are doing so because they want to finish as soon as possible, but I am not aware of other reasons,” he added.

Kyaw Hoe, a lawyer who defends political activists confirmed that the special courts in Insein prison has been scheduling court hearings in short intervals and are in a hurry to conclude.

He said, cases that are to be wrapped up this month include that against 11 Arakanese youths, charged under the Immigration Act and communicating with illegal associations.

Lawyer Kyaw Hoe is defending the Arakanese youths, who were arrested in various occasions since September 4, 2009, from their homes in Rangoon as well as from various townships in Arakan State.

Beside these Arakanese youths, the trials against Thandar Tun and Maung Nyo, who were charged under the Immigration Act, the case of Naw Ohn Hla and the four women opposition members, charged with disrespecting the state and the trial against six activists from Yay Nan Chaung and Chauk of Magwe Division are scheduled to be concluded this month.

On January 13, the special court inside Insein prison sentenced Shwe Gyo, of Rangoon’s suburban Township of Hlaing, Sein Hlaing of Sanchaung Township and Ma Cho (aka) Myint Myint San of Ahlone Township to three years in prison respectively under charges of communicating with illegal associations.

A Supreme Court advocate Kyi Win, who has been co-defending Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, said he believes that the reason behind the hurriedly conducted trials against activists could be because of the fast-approaching 2010 elections.

"When I last served at the office of the Legal Office, Chief Justice Aung Toe told us to hurry the cases and to hand over the remaining cases to the military courts. We were hurried at that time because of the 1990 election. I think this is a similar case, the judges are now hurrying to conclude the trials as the 2010 election is approaching,” Kyi Win added.

maandag 18 januari 2010


The case of Thandar (Than Da): she was born in Mandalay on 23rd of July 1982

She was arrested 3 September 2009, together with Ko Nyo.

She is still in Insein Prison on charges of illegally crossing the border and connecting to exile monks and holding foreign money and is currently in Insein Prison.

The trial started on January 6, on charges of illegally crossing the border and connecting to exile monks and holding foreign money. Good for about 16 years in prison. The trial is continuing on Mondays & Wednesdays until a verdict has been fabricated....

In the spirit of Peter Benenson, let us write to those in Naypyidaw, the secretive and paranoid military government of Burma, to the Diplomats around the world, shout it out loud in the streets where you live, and ACT! Stand up, get up, USE your LIBERTY to promote THEIRS!