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‘Human rights and the rule of law are at risk’ in Myanmar
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) has condemned the Myanmar government for undermining the country’s separation of powers and for severe breaches of human rights.
Jess Feyder
The report, Crackdown on Human Rights Defenders, Opposition, and the Right to a Fair Trial in Myanmar, shed light on the deteriorating situation in Myanmar since the coup d’état in February 2021.
It also examines the crackdown on human rights defenders and the opposition, the increase in arbitrary detentions, the conditions in which prisoners have been detained, the lack of access to legal counsel and the manner in which trials have been conducted.
The analysis reveals that many individuals have been, and are currently being, denied their right to a fair trial.
Some of the challenges to the right to a fair trial existed previously in Myanmar, but the coup d’état has exacerbated them.
Further, people’s lives are coming under threat if they are viewed as a threat by the military. Earlier this year, they carried out the first executions in Myanmar in more than 30 years.
Four men were tried, convicted and sentenced to death by closed-door military tribunals. “It is highly likely that further executions will follow under the pretext of enforcing ‘legal judgments’,” the IBAHRI said in a statement.
Apart from a large range of concerns around fair trials, the IBAHRI expressed concern for breaches of other rights, including:
- Rights to liberty and not being arbitrarily detained;
- Prohibition of cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment;
- The presumption of innocence and the right to remain silent;
- The right to necessary guarantees for defence;
- The right to a competent, independent and impartial tribunal;
- To be tried without undue delay;
- The right to a public hearing.
The military authorities have also arrested defence lawyers, targeting them for work defending political prisoners. This contravenes the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, which states lawyers must be able to perform all their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or interference.
Government dissent leaders and protesters are facing extrajudicial killings, torture and arbitrary arrests.
Director of the IBAHRI, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, commented: “What we see in Myanmar is a crackdown on human rights of everyone daring to oppose the military.
“This military stands accused of committing genocide against the Rohingya only a few years ago. Now that they have taken over full control of Myanmar, everyone who holds human rights and the rule of law dear is at risk.
“The international community must step up to put an end to these violations and restore the rule of law in the country.”
Dr Mark Ellis, executive director of the IBA, said: “The military takeover targeted opposing politicians, human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists and many others.
“As they continue to be arrested and detained, they are denied the fundamental right to a fair trial and face a Kafkaesque process.
“We have seen this in the case of State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders, and most distressing we have seen this in cases of thousands of other victims, whose voices will never be heard.
“All of them must be granted the right to a fair trial, in accordance with international standards.
“However, as long as the military clings to power, the right to a fair trial in Myanmar will continue to be denied and a charade of justice presented to the world.”
As the report was being published, British media reported that the United Kingdom’s former ambassador to Myanmar, Vicky Bowman, and her husband, Htein Lin, had each been sentenced to one year in prison by the country’s military authorities.
The case comes after the UK government announced sanctions against the military authorities in Myanmar.
Media reports also announced that Myanmar’s deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi was handed a three-year jail sentence for election fraud. This adds to the 17-year prison term she had already been given for other offences.
