Human Rights Council and Treaties Division Complaint Procedure OHCHR-UNOG 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Date: 4th January 2012.

Letter of Communication

Subject: The Prolonged Detention of the Prisoners Who Violated the Oppressive and Unjust Political Laws

The President of the Union of the Republic of Myanmar (Burma), Thein Sein, issued an order of amnesty on 2nd January 2012 and approximately 30 Political Prisoners or Prisoners of Conscience or the Prisoners who violated the Oppressive and Unjust Political Laws were released on the following day, 3rd January 2012. The government falsely claimed the order as an amnesty which is in fact the commutation of sentence effectively designed to continue incarcerates the leading political dissidents. As a result, between 500 and 1,600 political prisoners or the prisoners who violated the oppressive and unjust political laws remain in jails. This particular act explicitly points out the complete dishonesty and deception of the government which is regretful for the people of Burma, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD) who have been strenuously working for national reconciliation, and the international community that has been supporting the democratisation in Burma/Myanmar. Since President Thein Sein took office in March, 2011, the prisoners have been released in May and October in 2011, and January 2012. Approximately 23,000 prisoners have been released in total and less than 400 political prisoners or the prisoners who violated the oppressive and unjust political laws have been released. While a significant number of political prisoners remain in jails, more and more dissidents are sentenced since Thein Sein came to power. The Thein Sein administration sentenced the former army captain, Nay Myo Zin, ten years under Electronics Act in August 2011 and additional ten-year sentence against the journalist, Sithu Zeya, in September 2011 who was already sentenced eight years. More recently, the Central

Executive Committee member of the Karen National Union (KNU), Padoh Mahn Nyein Maung was sentenced seventeen years under the Unlawful Association Act. All these incidents reveal the travesty of justice and the lack of independent judiciary system in the country under Thein Sein led government. The continuous practice of oppressive laws such as the Electronics Act, the Unlawful Association Act and many others enacted under the SLORC/SPDC military regime indicates that the present rulers of the country are not willing to embark upon a genuine democratic change and remain loyal to authoritarian practices. The repeal of the existing laws that are designed to suppress the political opponents in its entirety is a crucial step in the process of national reconciliation. Furthermore, the government must ratify the United Nations international human rights treaties if it has a genuine will for national reconciliation and transition to democracy. The National Human Rights Commission that formed in September 2011 also appears to be a statecontrolled mechanism which is to cover up the human rights abuses committed by the government and to lessen the external pressures. The Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) submitted a letter of appeal to the president on 10th October 2011 and subsequently the prisoners were released on 12th October 2011. Again on 12th November 2011, the MNHRC sent an open letter to the president appealing for the prison transfers. The leading political activists such as Min Ko Naing and a few other prisoners were transferred to the prisons closer to Rangoon in the following week. As its latest activity, the MNHRC visited Insein Prison, Myitkyina Prison and a labour camp in December 2011 and issued a statement denying the inhumane treatments of the political prisoners. All these incidents seem to be orchestrated by the government in order to project a false image that the national human rights commission is working effectively to promote human rights in the country. However, in order to promote fundamental rights and freedoms in the country, particularly the civil and political rights, the National Human Rights Commission must be fully compliant with the Paris Principles. Furthermore, the government must admit the existence of political prisoners and stop classifying the political prisoners as common criminals. Although the government classified the existing political prisoners as the ordinary prisoners who violated the laws instead of the political prisoners or the prisoners of conscience, these prisoners simply violated the oppressive and unjust political laws which effectively restrict basic rights and freedoms. Thus, these prisoners have been charged for activities they committed which are not for their personal interests and are for the greater good of the people and the country. Therefore, the activities they committed are different to the common criminal offences which are either in the nature of personal interests or intended to have a negative impact on individuals. Although majority of political prisoners are charged under oppressive laws, many others are tried using forged and planted evidence, and convicted of criminal offences which is a systematic degradation of the political prisoners as common criminals. Therefore, such cases are needed independent reviews by the widely respected team of professionals that consists of international legal experts. The trumped-up charges are quite common for many political prisoners in Burma and not only these manipulated legal procedures need to be terminated and the sham trials which are performed at closed courts need to be discontinued. In order to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms in Burma effectively and to accelerate the current process of reconciliation and restoration of democratic values in the country, we call on the United Nations Human Rights Council to take any appropriate measures for the emergence of independent judiciary system in Burma/Myanmar, the restoration of the rule of law and the abolishment of the existing oppressive

and unjust political laws which insures the immediate and unconditional release of the remaining political prisoners or the prisoners who violated the oppressive and unjust political laws. We call on the United Nations Human Rights Council to urge the government of Burma/Myanmar to ratify the international human rights treaties and its national human rights commission to comply with the Paris Principles, and to cooperate with the United Nations and other international organisations. We call on the United Nations Human Rights Council to work together with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy (NLD) and other organisations in order to acquire a comprehensive list of the remaining Political Prisoners or Prisoners of Conscience or Prisoners who Violated the Oppressive and Unjust Political Laws and the subsequent release of these prisoners. The government of Burma/Myanmar must accede or ratify the international human rights treaties and ensure the emergence of independence judiciary system, otherwise the political prisoners or the prisoners who violated the (oppressive and unjust political) laws as the government prefers to label would continue to exist. Even if these prisoners are released in the future, they would be re-arrested whenever the government deems it necessary. Therefore, it is an urgent issue to be intervened by the United Nations Human Rights Council for the people of Burma who have been deprived of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Yours Sincerely,

Burma Independence Advocates Park House 111 Uxbridge Road Ealing London United Kingdom W5 5LB

The Burma Independence Advocates (BIA) is a London-based advocacy organisation and think tank working for the restoration of democratic values in Burma. The organisation is registered as a private company limited by guarantee and was founded in 2009 with the aim of helping the people of Burma achieve the full enjoyment of their fundamental rights and freedoms in line with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Company number: 7111145.