(Photo: AP)

CALL TO END ROHINGYA GENOCIDE

Myanmar's Genocide of Rohingya Must End

What is really going on in Myanmar/Burma beyond tourist brochures, media spin and official reform hype?

Unspeakable crimes are being carried out against innocent humans: children, women and men by the country’s government and racist extremists.

Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya (of whom there are more than 1 million inside the country and another million around the world) have been singled out for systematic destruction.

Successive governments, for decades, have institutionalized a system of apartheid against these people. Kept in concentration camp-like conditions and ghettoized neighborhoods, Rohingya are not permitted freedom of movement.

Every aspect of their lives, including marriage, childbirth and ability to work, is severely restricted. Their right to identity and citizenship is officially denied; in other words, they are not recognized as humans before the law. The Myanmar government even denies humanitarian agencies unfettered access to nearly 200,000 Rohingya in the camps.

Rohingya are profoundly vulnerable to all forms of oppression and atrocities.

As a nation, Myanmar is committing numerous crimes including systematic persecution and discrimination, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.

Of the country’s ethnic groups, only Rohingya are subjected to a policy of compulsory birth and marriage control because of their ethnicity.

As a matter of national policy, Myanmar is:

DENYING Rohingya legal existence, and right to nationality; access to medicine, food, and other basic necessities to sustain life; and

DESIGNING extensive structures of discrimination, genocidal hatred and popular violence that amount to the extermination of Rohingya as an ethnic group. Thereby, both the government and racist extremists, are

DESTROYING an entire people with impunity and popular consent.

Myanmar’s official deeds speak volumes about its intent to destroy Rohingya as an ethnic group.

We call on everyone: in governments, in the streets and fields around the world to stop the destruction of Myanmar’s Rohingya.

This is genocide. 

The following organizations and concerned citizens have endorsed this global call:

Non-Rohingya Organizations

• International State Crime Initiative (ISCI), King’s College, University of London
• The Sentinel Project for Genocide Prevention, Canada
• Global Campaign for the Rwandans Human Rights
• London Centre for Social Impact 
• Justice for All, USA
• Burma Task Force USA
• Burmese Welfare Association, USA
• Burmese American Muslim Association 
• Myanmar Muslim Association in Thailand
• Myanmar Muslim Youth – Malaysia
• Myanmar Muslim Civil Rights Movement
• Dignity International endorses
• Pax Romana ICMICA
• International Movement for a Just World (JUST)

Concerned Global Citizens

• Prudentienne Seward, a survivor of Rwandan genocide against Tutsi and founder of PAX - Peace for the African Great Lakes
• Rene Claudel Mugenzi, Rwanda genocide Survivor, founder of Global Campaign for Rwandas Human Rights
• Sai Latt, Burmese scholar and writer, Simon Frazer University, Canada
• Ko Aung, former Burmese political prisoner and activist, London, UK
• Soe Aung, Burmese human rights activist, Bangkok Thailand
• Dr Kyi May Kaung, Burmese writer, scholar and artist, Washington, DC, USA 
• Dr Zarni, Burmese scholar and activist, University of Malaya and London School of Economics
• Youk Chhang, Executive Director, The Documentation Center of Cambodia
• Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey, Rome Conference/ICC Signatory, ICTY Witness on Genocide & Former Foreign Minister - Bosnia & Herzegovina 
• Daniel Feierstein, President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars & Professor in the Faculty of Genocide Studies, the University of Buenos Aires
• Veronica Pedrosa, Journalist and TV presenter
• Noam Chomsky, Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, University Professor in Humanities, Columbia University & founding member of Post-Colonial Studies, USA
• Barbara Harrell-Bond, OBE, Dir, Fahamu Refugee Center; founding director, Refugees Studies Center; Emeritus Professor, Oxford University, UK
• Mary Kaldor, CBE, Professor of Global Governance and Director, Civil Society and Human Security Research Unit, London School of Economics, UK 
• Dr Helen Jarvis, Genocide Studies Researcher and co-author of “Getting Away with Genocide: Elusive justice and the Khmer Rouge tribunal"
• Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, Parliament of World's Religions (for identifications only), USA
• Penny Green, Professor of Law and Criminology & Director of the International State Crime Initiative (ISCI), King’s College, University of London 
• Dr Hassan Saeed Elmogummer Taha, human rights activist, Qatar 
• Alex Caring-Lobel, Associate Editor, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, USA
• Antara Dev Sen, Editor, The Little Magazine, India
• Mohanad Hage Ali, Journalist, Lebanon
• Dr Sabina Alkire, Dir. Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), University of Oxford, UK
• Bridget Anderson, Professor and Deputy Director Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford, UK
• Johan Galtung dr hc mult, founder, TRANSCEND International 
• Barbara Harriss-White, Emeritus Professor of Development Studies and Founder-Director of Contemporary South Asian Studies, University of Oxford, UK
• Geoff Whitty, Former Director, Institute of Education, University of London, UK
• Michael W. Apple, John Bascom Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Professor of Educational Policy Studies, University of Wisconsin at Madison, USA
• James C. Scott, Sterling Professor of Political Science and Professor of Anthropology, Yale University, USA
• Jack Healey, Executive Director, Human Rights Action Center, Washington (and former Executive Dir. Amnesty International/USA)
• Antonio Carlos da Silva Rosa, M.A., Editor, TRANSCEND Media Service, Brazil
• William Nicholas Gomes, Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com, UK 
• Roland Watson, Dictator Watch, Thailand
• Francis Wade, Journalist, Thailand
• Dr Nancy Hudson-Rodd, School of Land and Food, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia
• Michael Ratna, Sri Lanka
• Chandra Muzaffar, President, JUST, Kualar Lumpur, Malaysia
• Darwis Khudori, Indonesian academic, France
• Arash Sedighi, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London 
• Dr Laleh Khalili, SOAS, London
• Dr Rahul Rao, SOAS, London
• Dr Samantha Langsdale, SOAS, London
• Dr Ashraf Hoque, University College London (UCL)
• Dr (Medical doctor) Mohsin Badat, UK
• Dr. James Abdulaziz Brown, UK 
• Dr. Jonathan Saha, University of Bristol
• Sophie Ansel, Journalist & Writer, France 
• Lynn Lee, Film Maker, Singapore
• James Leong, Film Maker, Singapore
• Dr Syed Farid Alatas, National University of Singapore 
• Dr Matt Phillips, University of Aberystwyth, Wales, UK

Rohingya Organizations Worldwide

• Arakan Historical Society 
• Arakan Rohingya National Organization 
• Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK 
• Burmese Rohingya Community in Australia (BRCA) 
• Burmese Rohingya Association (BRA), UAE 
• Burmese Rohingya Community Netherlands 
• Burmese Rohingya Community in Denmark (BRCD) 
• Burmese Rohingya Association Deutschland 
• Canadian Burmese Rohingya Organization (CBRO) 
• European Rohingya Council 
• Rohingya Arakanese Refugee Committee, Malaysia 
• Rohingya Community in Norway 
• Rohingya Society Malaysia 
• Rohingya Organization Norway 
• Rohingya National Party (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) 
• Arakan National Congress (ANC)
• Rohingya Association of Canada
• Arakan Rohingya Organization Japan 
• Rohingya American Society

By Amnesty International

December 14, 2013

An Amnesty International Southeast Asia Campaigner recently explained how a passion for Myanmar led her to become an Amnesty International activist, and why Dr Tun Aung needs your help.

I’ve had a strong interest in civil and political rights since I was a teenager in Ireland. My father was a lifelong member of Amnesty International, so I was always aware of the organization. At university, I focused on the underlying causes of communal tensions between Indian and Burman communities in Rangoon in the 1930s for my postgraduate research. I’ve also been there. It was a combination of these factors that led me to work on Myanmar for Amnesty International. 

The political situation in Myanmar has become quite fluid in recent years. According to the government, over 28,000 prisoners have been released in amnesties since it came to power in March 2011. These included hundreds of prisoners of conscience, but hundreds of others have been arrested or continue to be detained for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. 

Amnesty International activists can play a major role in keeping the pressure on Myanmar’s government to stop such abuses. In Write for Rights 2010, members in 33 countries took more than 45,000 actions calling for the release of a peaceful political activist, Su Su Nway. I’m certain that that’s one reason why she was included in the new government’s first major prisoner amnesty.

I’m hoping we can do this again this year for Dr Tun Aung (pictured on the stamp image above), whose case I first heard about a few weeks after his arrest in June 2012

He is, by all accounts, a family man – a father and grandfather – who actively promoted tolerance among the ethnic and religious groups in Rakhine state. The local authorities considered him an ally who could help smooth intercommunity relations if tensions arose.

On a Friday afternoon in June, the authorities asked Dr Tun Aung to calm a crowd of men outside a mosque in Maungdaw, western Myanmar. The men were angry about the massacre of 10 Muslims one week earlier by a mob of Buddhists who were seeking revenge for the alleged rape and murder of a Buddhist woman.

Dr Tun Aung did his best to restore calm, but the crowd wouldn’t listen. He was arrested several days later and is serving a 17-year prison sentence after being convicted of multiple criminal offences, including inciting a riot. Aged 66, he has a tumour on his pituitary gland and needs medical care.

It’s really important for us to make Dr Tun Aung’s case visible to a wide audience – which is why he is a Write for Rights 2013 appeal case. That way, he will remain in the minds of Myanmar officials when they are deciding on their next prisoner amnesty – as happened with Su Su Nway.

Dr Tun Aung should be released immediately so that he can return to being a family man, a community leader and a doctor. I firmly believe that Amnesty International members around the world will play a vital role in securing his freedom.

By Islamic Human Rights Commission

December 8, 2013

UNAIDS appoints Aung San Suu Kyi as Zero Discrimination Global Advocate

Contents

1. Action Required

2. Summary

3. Background

4. Sample Letter

1. Action Required

Please write to UNAIDS and express your concern about choosing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Mynamar opposition leader as UNAIDS Global Advocate for Zero Discrimination heading the ‘zero discrimination’ campaign in light of her lack of concern for the extreme suffering – include hate based violent expulsion and exclusion - of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar.

2. Summary

UNAIDS have chosen Myanmar opposition leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to front a campaign against discrimination when she has failed to address violent hatred against Rohingya in particular and Muslims in general in Myanmar. 

3. Background

Nobel Peace Prize winner, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, being an influential leader of Myanmar’s National League of Democracy, was sadly heard in an interview playing down the horrific atrocities suffered by the Rohingya community. 

She was recently chosen as UNAIDS Global Advocate to front a ‘zerodiscrimination’ campaign under the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and was recorded as saying, “I believe in a world where everyone can flower and blossom. We can all make a difference by reaching out and letting people lead a life of dignity irrespective of who they are,” said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. “I invite everyone to Open up, Reach out and end discrimination.”

Her above-mentioned statement is in sharp contrast to her unconcerned attitude towards the plight of the Rohingya minority which was made apparent in the recent interview. She avoided direct condemnation of the Rohingya persecution and tried changing the subject to avoid certain controversial questions. In one response she stated, 

“Yes, Muslims have been targeted, but also Buddhists have been subjected to violence. But there’s fear on both sides and this is what is leading to all these troubles and we would like the world to understand: that the reaction of the Buddhists is also based on fear.”

When asked to accept that 140,000 Muslims that have been displaced because of persecution, she generalized and avoided answering the question by stating, “I think there are many, many Buddhists who have also left the country for various reasons. This is a result of our sufferings under a dictatorial regime.”

Her words of condemnation were so general they were empty of any empathy or understanding of the intensity of the Rohingya suffering. When asked “Do you condemn the anti-Muslim violence?” Suu Kyi replied, “I condemn any movement that is based on hatred and extremism.”

Her equivocal attitude towards the mass-scale genocidal acts against Muslims in Myanmar in particular the Ronhingya is very shocking and in sharp contrast to the anti-discrimination campaigns she supports and the peace titles she has been awarded.

Please write to UNAIDS and express your concern about their choice of Global Advocate.

4. Sample Letters

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Sample letters are given below for your convenience. Please note that model letters can be sent directly or adjusted as necessary to include further details. If you receive a reply to the letter you send, we request you to send a copy of the letter you send and the reply you received, to IHRC. This is very important as it helps IHRC to monitor the situation with regards to our campaigns and to improve upon the current model letters.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michel Sidibé

UNAIDS Executive Director

UNAIDS Secretariat

20, Avenue Appia

CH-1211 Geneva 27

Switzerland

Fax: +41 22 791 4187

Email: communications@unaids.org

[Your Name]

[Your address]

Date

Dear Michel Sidibé

Re: Appeal against choosing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to front anti-discrimination campaign

I am deeply concerned about your recent appointment of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as the UNAIDS Global Advocate for the Zero Discrimination campaign.

Ms Suu Kyi’s ambivalence towards the situation of Ronhingya has been interpreted as lack of concern and an apparently indifferent attitude towards the mass displacement and persecution of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar.

Given her failure to address this issue, I feel her choice as Global Advocate is a very poor one, and I am very disappointed in UNAIDS. UNAIDS has inadvertently endorsed the racist and anti-Muslim sentiment that is rife in Myanmar right now, and I hope you will now use this as an opportunity to either ask Ms. Suu Kyi to make clear statements of support for persecuted minorities in Myanmar and against the violent racism they have been facing.

If she does not, I urge you to revoke her appointment as UNAIDS Global Advocate for the Zero Discrimination campaign as her lack of empathy and absence of immediate action to resolve the plight of her own people proves is at best deeply problematic.

It can do the Zero Discrimination campaign little good to have an advocate who does not condemn discrimination at her own door.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely

[Signature]

[Name]

By Mission News Network

October 21, 2013

Burma ― How would you feel if you were not wanted anywhere? Wherever you went you were rejected and looked down upon. A people group called the Rohingya are just that. They are a people without a country. The United Nations describes them as one of the most persecuted minority groups on earth.

Christian Aid Missions, your link to indigenous missions, has come beside these outcasts, helping and preaching the Gospel to them. “They have no food, no work, no land, no help,” says the spokesman for a ministry in Bangladesh assisted by Christian Aid. “Because they are an ethnic minority and they are unregistered with the Bangladesh government, the Rohingya are caught in a dual trap. The Burmese military will not allow them in their own homeland, and in Bangladesh they have no identity.”

The Burmese government denies them citizenship, despite their migration from Bangladesh two centuries ago. And even though they are Muslim people, traditional Muslims have no use for them. Numbering between 800,000 and one million people, Rohingya have faced persecution from the Burmese government for more than three decades. Even Burma views them as illegal immigrants.

Some Rohingya live in refugee camps. Thousands more flock to government camps but are denied and turned away because they lack legal status. Many have established a makeshift camp nearby the camp in Kutupalong, Bangladesh. “Their camp is a slum community and is devoid of latrines, safe drinking water, and hope,” states a ministry leader.

Less than 10% of Rohingya exiles are officially registered. Even so, they cannot be citizens of Burma, they need permission to marry, they need permission to have more than two children, and they must inform authorities if they want to travel outside of their villages (even if it’s a medical emergency).

With limited education and job skills, the Rohingya typically find employment as rickshaw pullers or in the fishing industry. Christian Aid donors made it possible this summer to provide fishing nets for nine needy families. Those families are now able to provide more for their own family instead of sharing 50% of what they catch with the owners of the fishing nets. They are much happier, and they have hope.

Pray that the Rohingya will find hope in Jesus Christ. Pray for believers who stand beside them to provide their physical needs, especially food, housing, wells, latrines, medical care, and education for their children. To help donate and reach out with grace and love to this people group, click here.

Sushetha Gopallawa

Refugees International

August 13, 2013

During my recent visit to Myanmar, I met with human rights activist Kyaw Hla Aung in a Rohingya village in Sittwe Township, Rakhine State. We talked about his peaceful political activism, his public service, and his humanitarian work. But mostly we talked about how he and other village elders and leaders feared for their lives. 

Two days before the meeting, a government-sponsored verification process in the nearby Rohingya displacement camps had increased communal tensions. Fearing the exercise was aimed at undermining their claims to citizenship, the Rohingya community refused to participate. The ensuing protests by Rohingya, though small in size, forced the government to abandon the verification process and sparked a wave of arrests of Rohingya activists. 

Kyaw Hla Aung told us that he was not present in the camps when these incidents took place, yet he and other village leaders believed they could be arrested anyway. Police and border security agents (known as the NaSaKa) patrolled his village at least twice a day, so he tried to keep a low profile. When we spoke to him, he had not slept in his own bed in months. Unfortunately, his fears were realized on July 15, when he was arbitrarily arrested. 

Kyaw Hla Aung is currently being detained at Sittwe Police Station No. 1. It is reported that this detention facility does not meet international standards, and Kyaw Hla Aung’s family members have been barred from visiting him. This 74-year-old human rights activist, who is in poor health and requires regular medication, has been deprived of the treatments he needs and has not seen a medical officer since being detained. He has also been denied access to a lawyer of his choice. 

Appearing before the Sittwe District Court on July 31, Kyaw Hla Aung was charged with rioting while armed with a deadly weapon, hiring or conniving at hiring of persons to join an unlawful assembly, and voluntarily causing grievous hurt to a public servant to deter him from his duty. The rights group Frontline Defenders, however, described the case against him as “without merit.”

Myanmar’s repressive laws, which are used to detain dissidents and peaceful protesters, must be brought in line with international human rights standards. The ongoing targeting and arbitrary arrests of Kyaw Hla Aung and others like him must stop! 

Kyaw Hla Aung is due to appear in Court later this week, and Amnesty International has launched a global campaign calling for him to be given:

Please visit Amnesty International today and demand justice for Kyaw Hla Aung. 

UA: 213/13 Index: ASA 16/003/2013 Myanmar

Amnesty International

Date: 6 August 2013

URGENT ACTION

MYANMAR ACTIVIST ARBITRARILY DETAINED

74-year-old human rights defender Kyaw Hla Aung has been arbitrarily detained in Myanmar since 15 July. He is in poor health and may not be receiving the medical treatment he requires. He is on trial, facing charges related to his peaceful activities.

Kyaw Hla Aung has been in arbitrary detention in Sittwe Police Station No. 1 in Myanmar’s Rakhine state since 15 July 2013. He suffers from hypertension (high blood pressure) and gastric problems and requires regular treatment with medicine. There is concern that he may not have access to appropriate medical treatment or a lawyer of his choosing and that the conditions of detention fail to meet international human rights standards.

Kyaw Hla Aung had been in hiding and in fear of arrest after the Myanmar authorities arrested several Muslim leaders following community protests against a government-led population registration exercise conducted in Rakhine state in April 2013. Tensions arose when members of the Rohingya community refused to identify themselves as “Bengali”, which is viewed by many as a divisive term used to deny recognition to the Rohingya community in Myanmar and imply that all Rohingya are actually migrants from Bangladesh. Protests forced the authorities to suspend the registration exercise. Kyaw Hla Aung was not present during the protests. Instead, he tried to contact other Muslim leaders in an attempt to stop the protests from becoming violent. He has likely been targeted as he is an influential Rohingya human rights defender with connections to the international community.

On 15 July 2013, a police officer and two plainclothes officials took Kyaw Hla Aung from his temporary shelter in Sittwe and brought him to the Sittwe police station for questioning. The police did not inform him of the charges against him at the time. He was reportedly brought before the Sittwe District Court on 31 July 2013, and has been charged under Articles 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon), 150 (hiring or conniving at hiring of persons to join an unlawful assembly), and 333 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt to a public servant to deter him from his duty) of the Myanmar Penal Code. Court sessions are reportedly due to continue on 14 August 2013. He remains detained in the Sittwe police station. According to credible sources, he has not been seen by a doctor in detention, and the authorities are not providing him the medicines he requires. He does not have access to clean drinking water or water for bathing, and family members have not been allowed to visit him in detention.

Please write immediately in English or your own language, urging the authorities to:

• Immediately and unconditionally release Kyaw Hla Aung and drop all charges against him;
• Ensure that Kyaw Hla Aung is not tortured or otherwise ill-treated in detention, and that he has access to medical treatment, lawyers of his choosing and visits from family members; and
• Ensure that prison conditions, conditions in detention facilities, and the treatment of prisoners meet standards provided for in the UN Standard Minimum Rules on the Treatment of Prisoners.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 17 SEPTEMBER 2013 TO:

Attorney General

Dr. Tun Shin

Office of the Attorney General Office

No. 25, Nay Pyi Taw

Republic of the Union of Myanmar

Fax: +9567 404 146

Salutation: Dear Dr. Tun Shin

Director General, Myanmar Police Force

Brig-General Zaw Win

Ministry of Home Affairs

Office No. 10, Nay Pyi Taw

Republic of the Union of Myanmar

Fax: +951 549 663 / 549 208

Salutation: Dear Director General

And copies to:

Minister for Home Affairs

Lt. Gen. Ko Ko

Ministry of Home Affairs

Office No. 10

Nay Pyi Taw

Republic of the Union of Myanmar

Fax: +9567 412 439

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.

URGENT ACTION

MYANMAR ACTIVIST ARBITRARILY DETAINED

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Kyaw Hla Aung is a prominent Rohingya lawyer and former staff of a humanitarian non-governmental organization. He has spent more than 16 years in prison in Myanmar due to his involvement in peaceful activities, and continues to be monitored and harassed by the authorities. Most recently, he was arbitrarily arrested and detained in June 2012 along with several Rohingya aid workers following violence between Buddhist and Muslim communities in Rakhine state. He was later released in August 2012.

Peaceful activists and human rights defenders continue to face arbitrary arrest, detention and harassment in Myanmar. Amnesty International highlighted recent arrests in a public statement on 4 July 2013 (see:

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA16/002/2013/en/db943ba1-a638-443a-8189-1be22fc70cfe/asa160022013en.html).

Under Article 2 of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, each state has a duty to create the conditions necessary to defend human rights within their jurisdictions. However, human rights defenders in Myanmar continue to be arrested, detained and imprisoned simply for their involvement in peaceful activities. Human rights defenders in Myanmar also face intimidation and harassment. Amnesty International calls on the Government of Myanmar to ensure an environment in which it is possible to defend human rights without fear of reprisal or intimidation.

Prisoners of conscience and other detainees in Myanmar are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment and many are held in poor conditions which do not meet the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. Article 24 of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners states that a medical officer should see and examine all prisoners as soon as possible after their admission, and Article 25 states that the medical officer should daily see all sick prisoners. Further, Article 20 states that all prisoners should be provided with “food of nutritional value adequate to health and strength” and that “drinking water should be available to every prisoner when he needs it”. In addition, Article 15 states that prisoners should “be provided with water and with such toilet articles as are necessary for health and cleanliness”.

The Rohingya have faced discrimination for decades in Myanmar. They are not recognized as an official ethnic group and continue to be denied equal access to citizenship rights. Their rights to study, work, travel, marry, practise their religion, and receive health services are restricted to various degrees.

Name: Kyaw Hla Aung

Gender m/f: M

Burma Task Force

March 21, 2013

A New “Killing Field” in Burma 

Two days of rioting have left at least five dead – some reports say 14 -- and two mosques burned down in central Burma. These numbers are also normally grossly underreported in Burma, which has strict control of information in the country, so the death toll is largely much higher. 

The New York Times is reporting that a mob of Buddhists, some of them monks, started the rioting in the Muslim quarter of Meiktila, a city in central Burma. 

One reporter who witnessed the attacks told the New York Times that the scene was “like a killing field.” 

“Even the police told me that they could not handle what they witnessed,” said Wunna Naing. “Children were among the victims.” 

The most disturbing part of these attacks against Muslims is that this violence has spread from Rakhine State and the persecuted Rohingya Muslims to other parts of Burma. Buddhists are now rising up against Muslims who are considered citizens of the country, unlike the Rohingya, who have been denied citizenship in their ancestral land and are discriminated against because of their dark skin. 

Just last month, Buddhists attacked what they said was a masjid being built without permission in Yangon. 

Urgent Action Needed 

Call the Burmese embassy and tell them that the government needs to facilitate peace between Buddhist and Muslim citizens. The first step in this is to publicly acknowledge Rohingya Muslims as citizens. Meiktila police also need to properly prosecute those involved in the riots, including Buddhist monks that took part in the violence. 

Also call the Secretary of State’s office and tell John Kerry that he needs to push Burmese leadership to take responsibility to safeguard ALL of its citizens. 

Make a Phone Call TODAY 

Call the Burmese Embassy at (202) 332-3344, (202) 332-4350 and (202) 332-4352 or send an email to pyi.thayar@verizon.net. 

Call the Secretary of State’s office at (202) 647-5291, then press Option #1 and then Option #8. 

Request Our Literature! 

If you’re interested in requesting pamphlets to put up in your local masjid or community center, send an email to info@burmamuslims.org. We have already sent out a number of pamphlets to communities that have requested them. The pamphlet includes information on what is going on in Burma, what the Burma Task Force is doing and action you can take, such as signing petitions and making phone calls to ambassadors. 

BURMA TASK FORCE COALITION PARTNERS

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-020-2012

14 February 2013

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THAILAND: Rohingya asylum seekers arrested in southern provinces of Thailand

ISSUES: Refugees, IDPs and asylum seekers; human trafficking; minorities

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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission is deeply concerned for the fate of Rohingya asylum seekers who have been arrested in the past weeks in police sweeps of remote areas in Songkhla's Sadao district near the border with Malaysia and the other provinces. They have fled from Burma, where they have been subjected to various types of persecution. Even though Rohingya migrants are entering into Thailand without permission, owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race and religion they are entitled to seek asylum. Therefore customary international law and the non-refoulement principle should be strictly applied by the Thai state.

CASE DETAILS:

Rohingya migrants have fled from Burma, where they have been subjected to various types of persecution. In Thailand, they have been arrested in the past weeks as police rounded up 397 Rohingya migrants at remote areas in rubber plantations in Songkhla's Sadao district near the border with Malaysia on January 10, 2013. As of January 31, the number of Rohingyas reportedly arrested was 1486 persons.

On January 16, The Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand submitted a petition to the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand seeking help for the detained Rohingya. NHRC member Niran Pitakwatchara said a sub-panel on civil and political rights would meet state agencies on January 28 to discuss the issue. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra recently approved temporary assistance for a group of Rohingyas until their status is determined, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is also trying to determine the people's status but a person shall be granted refugee status first, then he/she would be resettled later on.

On January 18, The Central Islamic Council of Thailand said it would propose the central mosque of Songkhla province be used as a main shelter for Muslim migrants who have not been charged with any criminal offences. The Council also encouraged Muslim nations, international organisations and the United Nations agencies on human rights to discuss with a third country the possibility of granting asylum to the Rohingya migrants.

But, on January 21, the National Security Council insisted that the detained Rohingya should be classed as illegal immigrants, not refugees. Meantime, police have been arresting people alleged to have brought the Rohingya into Thailand, and have been examining the role of human trafficking agencies.

On January 31, the government decided to take care of the Rohingya for six months. The male Rohingya asylum seekers were being detained at the Immigration Bureau while women and children were staying at the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security's shelters for children and women.

For further analysis of the legal status under law on Immigration of these persons in Thailand, please see the sample letter, below.

Background Information:

Even though Rohingya migrants entering into Thailand under domestic law could be removed from the territory, because they are seeking asylum in accordance with the terms of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and because many of them are stateless persons, the government of Thailand has an obligation to recognize their claims and make necessary arrangements to accommodate them until such a time as they can return to Burma safely or go to a third country. These obligations apply under international customary law irrespective of the fact that Thailand has not ratified the 1951 Convention.

Rohingya from western Burma have since the 1970s been subject to systematic programs for their removal from the country or for their economic and political marginalization, through denial of access to travel documents, effectively prohibiting them from enjoying rights to education, health, movement and employment that other people in the country have. Since the mid-2000s, increasing numbers have come to Thailand, sometimes on their way to Malaysia or Indonesia, where authorities have treated them with hostility, on some occasions reportedly towing boats that have attempted to land back out to sea. The most recent arrivals have fled following violence in mid-2012 and October 2012, during which entire urban communities and villages were allegedly razed through fire by members of indigenous communities, claiming that the Rohingya have no legitimate claim to reside as an ethnic minority in Burma. Claims that the persons responsible for attacks were backed by government officials are credible given the longstanding and blatant anti-Rohingya position taken by the government in Burma and its personnel, but are difficult to prove given the current conditions in the region, which remains under a state of emergency.

For additional information on human rights issues in Burma and Thailand, visit the AHRC's country pages: http://www.humanrights.asia/countries/thailand, http://www.humanrights.asia/countries/burma

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write letters to the authorities listed below, urging them to assist Rohingya asylum seekers, not treat them as illegal immigrants. Please note that for the purposes of this letter, Burma is referred to by its official name as Myanmar.

Please be informed that the AHRC is writing separate letters to the UN Special Rapporteurs on trafficking in persons, on the human rights of internally displaced persons, on human rights in Myanmar, and to the human rights office in Bangkok, calling for urgent intervention into this matter.

To support this appeal please send the letter.

SAMPLE LETTER: 

Dear _________,

THAILAND: Rohingya asylum seekers arrested in southern provinces of Thailand

I am writing to you to call for urgent intervention into the case of Rohingya migrants who have fled from Myanmar, where they have been subjected to various types of persecution. In Thailand, they have been arrested in the past weeks as they have arrived in the county’s south. According to the information I have received, as of January 31, a total of 1,486 Rohingya had been taken into custody.

On January 16, The Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand submitted a petition to the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand seeking help for the detained Rohingya. NHRC member Niran Pitakwatchara said a sub-panel on civilian and political rights would meet state agencies on Jan 28 to discuss the issue. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra recently approved temporary assistance for a group of Rohingyas until their status is determined, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is also trying to determine the people's status but a person shall be granted refugee status first, then he/she would be resettled later on.

On January 18, The Central Islamic Council of Thailand said it would propose the central mosque of Songkhla province be used as a main shelter for Muslim migrants who have not been charged with any criminal offences. The Council also encouraged Muslim nations, international organisations and the United Nations agencies on human rights to discuss with a third-party country the possibility of granting asylum to the Rohingya migrants.

But, on January 21, the National Security Council insisted that the detained Rohingya should be classed as illegal immigrants, not refugees. Meantime, police have been arresting people alleged to have brought the Rohingya into Thailand, and have been examining the role of human trafficking agencies.

On January 31, the government had decided to take care of the illegal Rohingya migrants for six months. The male Rohingya migrants were being detained at the Immigration Bureau while women and children were staying at the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security's shelters for children and women.

In this context, I want to take this opportunity to express my concern about law enforcement under Immigration Act B.E.2522 (1979). Clearly, the Rohingya are not Thai nationals and has entered Thailand as aliens, in accordance with section 4 of the Act. They having no genuine and valid passport or document used in lieu of passport, and therefore under section 58 their migration into Thailand is illegal.

According to section 19, "In inspecting and considering whether as alien is forbidden from entering the Kingdom, the competent officer shall have authority to allow said alien to stay at an appropriate place after promising that he will present himself to the competent officer to received his orders on a specified date, time and place; or if the competent officer deems appropriate he may call for bond or call for both bond and security; or the competent officer may detain aliens at any place." It is in accordance with this section that the people have now been detained.

Notwithstanding, because Rohingya migrants entered Thailand because of a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion and nationality in Myanmar, the Council of Ministers may consider a special exemption under section 17 of the act.

Accordingly, I call upon the government of Thailand to recognize its international obligations in this instance, and strictly apply customary international law and the non-refoulement principle, thereby allowing these asylum seekers to remain in Thailand for the foreseeable future. I urge that all persons detained be released into the community, subject to suitable arrangements by the relevant authorities for the provision of, and monitoring of, accommodation and other services. I also call on the government to enter into negotiations with relevant governments and multilateral agencies with a view to making the necessary provisions for these persons with regard to their fundamental human rights, and humanitarian concerns.

Lastly, I take this opportunity to urge the government of Thailand to ratify the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees at the earliest possible occasion, in order that it might fall within the international framework established for the protection of these persons and others fleeing similar forms of persecution.

I look forward to your prompt action.

Yours sincerely,

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra

Prime Minister 

Government House 

Pitsanulok Road, Dusit District 

Bangkok 10300 

THAILAND 

Tel: +66 2 288 4000 

Fax: +66 2 288 4000 ext. 4025 

E-mail: spokesman@thaigov.go.th

2. Mr. Charupong Ruangsuwan

Minister of Interior

Atsadang Road 

Bangkok 10200

THAILAND

Tel: +66 2224 6320 ext 50004 

Fax +66 2226 4371

3. Mr. Surapong Tovichakchaikul

Minister of Foreign Affairs

443 Sri Ayudhya Road, 

Bangkok, Thailand 10400

Tel - Fax +66 2643 5320

minister@mfa.go.th

4. Pol.Gen.Adul Saengsingkaew

Commissioner General

Office of Commissioner General, Royal Thai Police, 1st Bldg, 

7th Fl., Royal Thai Police, Rama 1 Rd. 

Pathum Wan 

Bangkok 10330

Tel +66 2251 6831 

Fax +66 2205 3738

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme

Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

February 1, 2013 

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME 

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-013-2013 

01 February 2013

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BURMA: Islamic community leader unfairly tried and imprisoned over communal violence 

ISSUES: Arbitrary arrest and detention; administration of justice; state of emergency

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Dear friends, 

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received detailed information concerning the case of a prominent retired medical doctor and Islamic community leader in the west of Burma imprisoned for allegedly sending news abroad about the first wave of violence in his town during mid-2012. Border security personnel detained Dr Tun Aung in June and accused him not only of sending news but failing to notify them of events that would lead to violence, even though he had reportedly put his own life at risk to stop the violence from occurring. A court in November sentenced Dr Tun Aung to 11 years in jail in a patently unfair trial. He is currently imprisoned and suffering from serious health conditions that require specialist treatment but have so far gone unattended. 

CASE NARRATIVE: 

On 8 June 2012, communal violence flared in Maungdaw, on the border of Bangladesh and Burma. Dr Tun Aung, also known as Nurul Haque, a respected community leader and member of the district Islamic council, had in the days before hand work with other local leaders in trying to negotiate between officials and angered youths in their community, so as to prevent violence. For this he had reportedly incurred the anger of some sectors of his own community because he had attended meetings with the administrative and security authorities on how to deal with tensions. On June 5, less than a week before his arrest, he had addressed Muslims at the main mosque and an Islamic school to convey information about events in accordance with responsibilities assigned to him by the local authorities.

After the violence flared, a local member of parliament called Dr Tun Aung to come and help to try to calm the crowds. At personal risk he came to the site but local police with whom he worked told him to leave the area because he was in danger. He and his family fled for safety at the compound of an international organisation. His family members later continued on to another part of the country, but Dr Tun Aung reportedly himself contacted the authorities to ask for a security detail so he could return to his residence. 

Instead of taking him home, security personnel in Maungdaw brought Dr Tun Aung to the headquarters of a special border security force, NaSaKa, on June 11. They confiscated a laptop (which was not his) and two mobile phones and took him into custody. They accused him of sending information abroad about violence in preceding days, of provoking communal violence, and of not having informed them of a mourning procession for ten Muslims killed, despite his having known about it prior to its occurrence. They sent him to the regional army headquarters for further questioning and then on to the prison in another district, where he was held for trial. Throughout this time he was held incommunicado, without access to family—some of whom had also been arrested—and others who could give assistance. 

The trial was patently unfair. Dr Tun Aung had no lawyer to defend him and had no witnesses in his defence, since the trial was held too far away and at a time that the state was under emergency regulations, making travel difficult and conditions fearful. Nearly all of the witnesses for the prosecution were security personnel whose evidence consisted almost entirely of oral depositions. No substantive material evidence was brought against the detainee, yet he was convicted of a series of charges and sentenced to 11 years in jail. He is currently detained in prison. 

For additional details, please see the sample letter below. 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: 

Dr Tun Aung is an elderly man with a history of poor health in recent years. He has undergone surgery for his enlarged pituitary tumor twice (in 1998 and 2005). The condition is chronic, so, he has to have constant medication and a regular check ups that can only be done at a hospital with a well-equipped laboratory and head scanner or magnetic resonant imaging machine. He has also lost his peripheral visions in both eyes due to pressure from the tumor. Due to medication, he has suffered from varicose veins and he underwent surgery to his left thigh and leg in 2011. The same surgery for his right leg was due in December 2012, but because of imprisonment it could not be conducted. He also suffers from other side effects, such as reduced immunity. Given that prison conditions in Myanmar are often extremely bad, and that many persons have died in custody or after release due to illnesses left untreated while in prison, his situation in prison is extremely precarious and calls for urgent intervention on grounds of health alone. 

Dr Tun Aung ran for parliament in the 1990 election the results of which a military government refused to recognize as a mandate to govern, obtaining over 41 per cent of the vote in the Maungdaw electorate. He is a graduate of Mandalay University with a degree in medicine, and a well-known and longstanding respected member of his community who over the years has participated in many projects aimed at the improvement of conditions for local people. Among these, he has helped to arrange for the repatriation of released prisoners from Bangladesh to Burma, and vice versa; and, helped police in a number of serious criminal cases in the locality. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: 

The charges brought against Dr Tun Aung are all typical of, and consistent with, the bringing of charges in Myanmar in politically motivated cases under successive military dictatorships, aimed at depriving persons of their basic rights. Over the years, the AHRC documented many such cases, which can be found on its country homepage: http://www.humanrights.asia/countries/burma. 

Whereas many persons had hoped that with the changes in political conditions in recent times such cases would become a thing of the past, the current case demonstrates that the practices associated with repressive government from earlier periods are very much habituated in institutional behaviour in Burma, and it would be naïve to think that they will be quickly or readily driven out of the criminal justice system. 

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write a letter to the following government authorities to urge that Dr Tun Aung be released from prison and be ensured specialist medical treatment without delay. Please note that for the purpose of the letter Burma is referred to by its official name, Myanmar. 

Please also be informed that the AHRC is writing separate letters to the UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights in Myanmar, on the independence of judges and lawyers, on the right to health, on freedom of opinion and expression; and, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and regional office in Bangkok, calling for their interventions into this matter. 

SAMPLE LETTER: 

Dear ___________, 

MYANMAR: Arbitrary detention and unfair trial of elderly Islamic community leader 

Names of detainee: Dr Tun Aung, a.k.a. Nurul Haque, 64, chairman, Maungdaw District Islamic Affairs Council, retired medical doctor, resident of Myomataung Ward, Maungdaw Town, Rakhine State, Myanmar 

Names of personnel involved: 

1. Captain Win Myo Htet, Military Affairs Security (military intelligence), Western Command

2. Inspector Aung Naing, Station Commander, Kyiganbyin Police Station (complainant)

3. Police Captain Aung Saw, Maungdaw Township Anti-Human Trafficking Unit

4. Sergeant Kyi Han, Military Affairs Security, Maungdaw Detachment

5. Sergeant Kyaw Oo, Platoon Commander, Military Affairs Security, Western Command

5. Sergeant Saw Khin, army personnel attached to Maungdaw District Police Office

6. Sergeant Than Aye, Military Affairs Security, Platoon 2, Western Command

7. Police Constable Soe Win, Maungdaw Police Station

8. Deputy Immigration Officer Myint Maung

9. Deputy Immigration Officer U Ne Nwei Win 

Date of arrest: 11 June 2012

Place of arrest: Border Migration Investigation and Supervision Department (commonly known the acronym NaSaKa) Headquarters, subsequently Western Command HQ (regional army HQ)

Charges: Penal Code sections 153A/505(b)/148; Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, section 24(1); Myanmar Wireless Telegraphy Act, section 6(1) (as amended 1993), 1950 Emergency Provisions Act 5(j)

Court cases: Sittway District Court, Judge Aye Thein presiding, Criminal Regular Case Nos. 45-47/2012, 58/2012, all decided on 21 November 2012, sentenced accused to a total of 11 years in jail 

I am writing to express my concern over the arbitrary arrest, unfair trial and subsequent imprisonment of Dr Tun Aung, an Islamic community leader and longtime resident of Maungdaw, on the border with Bangladesh, whom the authorities in Myanmar have accused of sending material over the internet concerning the violence in Rakhine State in June 2012, and having incited the violence and failed to stop it from occurring. I call for a review of this case with a view to releasing the detainee at the earliest possible opportunity. 

According to the information that I have received, security personnel in Maungdaw brought Dr Tun Aung to the headquarters of a special border security force, commonly known as NaSaKa, on 11 June 2012, where they confiscated a laptop (which was not his) and two mobile phones. They took him into custody. They accused him of posting material on Internet about violence in preceding days, of provoking communal violence, and of not having informed them of a mourning procession for ten Muslims killed, despite his having known about it prior to its occurrence. They sent him to the regional army headquarters for further questioning and then on to the prison in another district. Meanwhile, they searched his house and claimed to have uncovered various items—such as a walkie-talkie, an out-of-date SIM card from Bangladesh and a few notes of foreign currency—with which to bring criminal cases against him. 

Contrary to the contents of these allegations, according to other sources, Dr Tun Aung throughout this time did his best to prevent violence from occurring and in fact had reportedly incurred the anger of some sectors of his own community because as a member of the district Islamic council he had cooperated with the authorities in order to keep the situation peaceful, and had attended meetings with the administrative and security authorities on how to deal with tensions in the region. On June 5, less than a week before his arrest, Dr Tun Aung had addressed Muslims at the main mosque and an Islamic school in Maungdaw to convey information about events in accordance with responsibilities assigned to him by the local authorities. He had been in further meetings with officials over the subsequent days and was involved in the organising of peace committees at the very time that on June 8 serious violence broke out in Maungdaw town. 

After the violence flared, a local member of parliament called Dr Tun Aung to come and help to try to calm the crowds. At personal risk he came to the site but left the area when he was feeling unwell. He and his family fled for safety at the compound of an international organisation. His family members later continued on to another part of the country, but Dr Tun Aung reportedly himself contacted the authorities to ask for a security detail so he could return to his residence, whereupon he was taken into custody. 

The authorities later sent Dr Tun Aung to Sittway for trial, even though the transfer of the case was not done in accordance with law. Partly because of that transfer, he was unable to obtain a lawyer or call witnesses in his defence. Although he tried to call witnesses, because of the security situation and imposition of a state of emergency with curfews across the state, none of those called were willing to come. Nonetheless, the judge falsely inferred the failure of anyone to attend under these extraordinary conditions as that they did not want to attend because their testimony would conflict with that of the defendant. Aside from witnesses to searches, all of the witnesses for the prosecution were police, military or immigration personnel. No substantive material evidence was brought against the detainee. What material evidence was brought came from seized items that were either not his own—such as the laptop—or was so trivial as to constitute a criminal offence only in the most ludicrous of circumstances—such as the handfuls of foreign currency found in his house used to frame a foreign exchange charge. Yet he was convicted without regard to the facts of the case and, it can be safely concluded, under instructions from non-judicial agencies. 

Currently, I am deeply concerned for Dr Tun Aung because he is an elderly man with a history of poor health in recent years. He has undergone surgery for his enlarged pituitary tumor twice (in 1998 and 2005). The condition is chronic, so, he has to have constant medication and a regular check ups that can only be done at a hospital with a well-equipped laboratory and head scanner or magnetic resonant imaging machine. He has also lost his peripheral visions in both eyes due to pressure from the tumor. Due to medication, he has suffered from varicose veins and he underwent surgery to his left thigh and leg in 2011. The same surgery for his right leg was due in December 2012, but because of imprisonment it could not be conducted. He also suffers from other side effects, such as reduced immunity. Given that prison conditions in Myanmar are often extremely bad, and that many persons have died in custody or after release due to illnesses left untreated while in prison, that an elderly man in this poor state of health would be given a 11-year sentence is a cause for special concern. Indeed, I am informed that since the time of his arrest to the present, he has not had any specialist treatment. 

In view of the above facts, I call for this case to be reviewed and for Dr Tun Aung to be released from prison at the earliest possible opportunity. I also call for the authorities to assess his medical condition immediately, and to provide him with the necessary specialist care at a facility outside of prison to ensure that his health does not worsen as a consequence of his detention. Here I take the opportunity to recall the case of Phyo Wai Aung, the young man falsely accused over a 2010 bombing, who died in January 2013 only a few months after his release from custody, specifically as a result of the maltreatment and lack of specialist attention he suffered while detained. I urge the authorities in Myanmar not to allow the same to happen in this case. 

Despite the changes in political conditions in Myanmar that have been widely welcomed in all quarters, it is manifest to me from this case that the police, security forces and judiciary continue to function not in a manner conducive to democratisation but in a manner consistent with practices of prior years under military dictatorships. But even more disturbing in this case is the likelihood that local authorities obtained orders from high up in the administrative system to prosecute and imprison Dr Tun Aung because they were embarrassed by reports about the violence in the country's west at a time that they wanted to cultivate a better image abroad, and did not want any facts to get out that would spoil the propaganda image of government agencies doing their best to keep everything under control. In this respect too the handling of the case is consistent with earlier periods, and sends an ominous signal to people in Myanmar thinking that conditions may have changed to enable the type of free speech that they did not enjoy in the past. 

In this regard I wish in particular to draw attention to the charges brought against the accused. All of them are antiquated provisions of laws used throughout periods of successive military government in Myanmar to suppress basic rights to speech, assembly and participate in public life of precisely the sort that the government of Myanmar now asserts that it is encouraging. Some of them, such as the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, are so utterly outdated as to be preposterous, were it not for the consequences of persons against whom they are used. I therefore take this opportunity also to urge the government of Myanmar to thoroughly review these pieces of legislation with a view to revoking or amending them as necessary to bring them into line with the democratic values that it now claims to espouse. 

Yours sincerely, 

----------------

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO: 

1. U Thein Sein

President of Myanmar

President Office

Office No.18

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR 

2. U Hla Min

Minister for Home Affairs

Ministry of Home Affairs

Office No. 10

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR

Tel: +95 67 412 079/ 549 393/ 549 663

Fax: +95 67 412 439 

3. U Tun Tun Oo

Chief Justice

Office of the Supreme Court

Office No. 24

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR

Tel: + 95 67 404 080/ 071/ 078/ 067 or + 95 1 372 145

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/ 090/ 092/ 094/ 097

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/ 549 393/ 549 663

Fax: +951 549 663 / 549 208 

6. Thura U Aung Ko

Chairman

Pyithu Hluttaw Judicial and Legislative Committee

Office of the Pyithu Hluttaw

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR

7. U Aung Nyein

Chairman

Committee for Public Complaints and Appeals

Office of the Pyithu Hluttaw

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR 

8. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Chairwoman

Pyithu Hluttaw Rule of Law and Tranquility Committee

Office of the Pyithu Hluttaw

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR 

9. 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 

10. Ko Ko Hlaing

Chief Political Advisor

Office of the President

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR

Tel-+95-1-532 501 ext-605 / 654 668

Fax-+95-1-532 500, 654 668 

Thank you. 

Urgent Appeals Programme 

Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

Photo - UNA-UK

• A Security Council resolution reminding the Burmese government of its responsibility to protect all populations within its borders, and agreeing to the dispatch of international monitors to report on the ongoing situation (in addition to the visits made to date by foreign government representatives, including the UK) 
• An inclusive process of national reconciliation involving all communities within Burma 
• Neighbouring states, with the assistance of the UN and the international community, to help those fleeing violence 

Today, Alexandra Buskie, UNA-UK's Responsibility to Protect Programme Officer, and Ben Donaldson, UNA-UK's Communications and Campaigns Officer, hand-delivered more than 130 of these letters to the FCO, along with a cover letter from UNA-UK Chairman Sir Jeremy Greenstock to Baroness Warsi, Minister with responsibility for the UN and Human Rights.