MYANMAR

Parliamentarians still detained:

Case N° MYN/01 - OHN KYAING	Case N° MYN/42 - MYA WIN
Case N° MYN/10 - WIN HLAING	Case N° MYN/50 - WAN MAUNG
Case N° MYN/13 - NAING NAING	Case N° MYN/60 - ZAW MYINT MAUNG
Case N° MYN/26 - HLA TUN	Case N° MYN/71 - KYI MYINT
Case N° MYN/28 - TIN AUNG AUNG	Case N° MYN/72 - SAW WIN
Case N° MYN/36 - MYINT NAING	Case N° MYN/73 - FAZAL AHMED
Case N° MYN/41 - ZAW MYINT

Parliamentarians deceased:

Case N° MYN/53 - HLA THAN
Case N° MYN/55 - TIN MAUNG WIN
Case N° MYN/66 - WIN KO
Case N° MYN/67 - HLA PE

Parliamentarians newly arrested or rearrested:

Case N° MYN/68 - AUNG KHIN SINT	Case N° MYN/87 - DO HTAUNG
Case N° MYN/83 - KYAW MIN	Case N° MYN/88 - CHIT HTWE
Case N° MYN/84 - SOE THEIN	Case N° MYN/89 - MYO NYUNT
Case N° MYN/85 - KHON MYINT HTUN	Case N° MYN/90 - HLA MYINT
Case N° MYN/86 - AYE SAN

Resolution adopted without a vote by the Inter-Parliamentary Council at its 159th session
(Beijing, 21 September 1996)

The Inter-Parliamentary Council,

Referring to the outline of the case, as contained in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/159/11(a)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 158th session (April 1996), concerning the above-mentioned elected members of the Pyithu Hluttaw (People's Assembly) of the Union of Myanmar,

Taking into consideration the communications from the Permanent Representative of the Union of Myanmar dated 28 May and 3 June 1996,

Also taking into consideration the information supplied by the sources on 28 and 29 May and 6 September 1996,

Considering that, according to the sources, a wave of arrests of NLD MPs­elect began on 20 May 1996 resulting in the detention of 258 NLD activists, including 235 MPs-elect of whom 91 have been identified by name by Amnesty International,

Considering that, according to the information provided by the Permanent Representative of Myanmar, "the NLD, under the influence of foreign countries planned to organize a mass meeting from 26 to 29 May 1996 to destroy the nation's peace and stability already maintained. Therefore, some delegates who were to attend the meeting were called in for questioning so as to safeguard in good time peace and stability from being disturbed. Today (31 May), authorities have sent home the delegates called in for questioning right to their doors from the guest houses where they were being accommodated",

Considering, however, that according to Amnesty International the following seven MPs-elect are still in detention or have since been arrested: Dr. Aye San (MYN/86) (Kyaikhto 2 constituency, Mon State), U Soe Thein (MYN/84) (Waw, Sagaing Division; arrested on 21 May 1996), U Kyaw Min (MYN/83) (Pathein, Ayeyarwady Division), U Chit Htwe (MYN/88) (Magwe Division; arrested on 2 July), Dr. Aung Khin Sint (MYN/68), U Hla Myint (MYN/90) (Maubin, Ayeyarwady Division), Dr. Myo Nyunt (MYN/89) (Dedaye I township, Ayeyarwady Division), U Do Htaung (MYN/87) (Kalay, Sagaing Division, arrested in June 1996) and Khon Myint Htun (MYN/85) (Thaton II, Mon State),

Considering that the sources have provided the following information regarding their situation:

• O Soe Thein and U Kyaw Min are reportedly held under Section 10(a) of the 1975 State Protection Law which allows for the detention without trial for prolonged periods of anyone who "endangers the peace of most citizens";

• Dr. Aung Khin Sint, who had been detained from 1993 to February 1995, was rearrested despite the fact that he had resigned from the NLD after his release in 1995, and taken to an unknown location in May 1996;

• Dr. Myo Nyunt is believed to have been arrested on 24 July 1996; according to the 14 July edition of "The New Light of Myanmar", he was charged under Section 18/19 of the National Drugs Law on 26 June and accused of the illegal manufacture of pharmaceuticals; he had reportedly remained in Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's compound after the NLD May meeting and left it during the last week in July; when he returned home, he was taken by a combined police and military intelligence force to Insein Prison;

• U Do Htaung and Khon Myint Htun, together with 17 other persons, were reportedly sentenced on 20 August 1996 to seven years' imprisonment under Section 122/2 of the Penal Code for having worked with an expatriate NLD MP-elect, Tint Swe, who had fled to India in the aftermath of the May 1990 elections, to destabilize the Nation;

• U Chit Htwe is reportedly charged under provisions of Section 6-1 of the Public Property Protection Law; he was believed to have been accused of stealing Burma Socialist Party documents; military intelligence officials had apparently put pressure on him to resign from the NLD and charged him when he refused to do so,

Considering further that, according to opposition sources, shortly after the May 1996 crackdown on the NLD, SLORC began to put pressure on the NLD MPs-elect to resign from their positions as MPs-elect and from the party itself; that members of military intelligence have reportedly threatened and harassed MPs-elect, telling them that they and their families would lose their jobs if they did not resign; that in early September 1996, 20 NLD MPs-elect reportedly resigned,

Recalling that, according to the sources, there are consistent reports of inhuman and degrading treatment in Myanmar prisons; that Saw Naing Naing (MYN/13), Dr. Myint (M) Aung (MYN/60), Myint Naing (MYN/36) and U Hla Than (MYN/53) were interrogated about letters smuggled out of Insein Prison to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Myanmar giving details of ill-treatment and poor conditions in prisons; that subsequently prison officials forced them to sleep on concrete floors without mats or blankets in "military dog cells" and that they were reportedly denied access to their families, who provide them with food and medicine,

Recalling that the four, together with 18 other political prisoners, were sentenced to additional jail terms of five to twelve years each under the Emergency Provisions Act for "causing or intending to disrupt the morality or behavior of a group of people or the general public, or disrupting the security or reconstruction of the stability of the Union", apparently on account of attempting to pass information about prison conditions to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Myanmar,

Considering that one of them, U Hla Than, died in Yangon General Hospital on 2 August 1996 after being transferred from Insein Jail where he was serving a 17-year prison sentence; that, according to opposition sources, his official death certificate stated that he died from pulmonary tuberculosis and had tested positive for HIV; that, however, according to the same source, the incidence of HIV is high in Insein Prison because proper medical procedures are not followed when giving intravenous injections; that U Hla Than had reportedly asked to be allowed to die at home, but the military authorities had denied the request unless he resigned from the NLD, which he refused to do; that there is concern that he may have died because of lack of proper medical treatment and ill-treatment,

Bearing in mind that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, in his report to the 50th session of the United Nations General Assembly in December 1995, expressed deep regret that during his last visit to the country in October 1995 he had been denied access to any of the political prisoners, and that no other visit has taken place since,

Recalling that the Inter-Parliamentary Council has consistently requested the Government of the Union of Myanmar to authorize an on-site mission of the IPU to the country in order to collect objective and precise data on the situation of the MPs-elect concerned and that the authorities have refused to do so in 1992, arguing that the United Nations Special Rapporteur had carried out a visit in October 1991; that they have since ignored this request,

Recalling also that the authorities have remained silent, in particular as regards the specific requests for information on the conditions of detention of the MPs-elect concerned,

Recalling further that the MPs-elect, belonging to the NLD may no longer participate in the work of the National Convention; stressing in this connection that the authorities have always affirmed that the representatives elected in 1990 would be responsible for drawing up the new Constitution,

Bearing in mind that the United Nations General Assembly, at its 50th session, urged the Government of Myanmar to allow all citizens to participate freely in the political process, in particular through the transfer of power to democratically elected representatives, and that the United Nations Commission on Human Rights echoed the call at its 52nd session (March/April 1996),

1. Reaffirms its indignation that the authorities of the Union of Myanmar continue to ignore the outcome of the election of 27 May 1990 and considers in this respect that the National Convention convened by SLORC on 9 January 1993 is designed to prolong and legitimize military rule against the will of the people as expressed in the 1990 elections, and thus violates the principle established in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that the "will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government";

2. Thanks the authorities for the information supplied; deplores, however, the fact that they have remained silent on the serious allegations regarding prison conditions in Myanmar and have not seen fit to respond to the repeated requests for an on-site mission which the Inter-Parliamentary Council and its Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians have consistently addressed to them, most recently in July 1996;

3. Can only conclude from the persistent silence of the authorities, in particular as regards prison conditions, and their de facto refusal to authorize the visit of an independent mission that the prevailing conditions of detention of the MPs concerned do not advocate such a visit;

4. Remains deeply concerned at the persistent reports of inhuman prison conditions, deplores the death in detention of U Hla Than, which may have resulted from lack of proper medical treatment, and urges the authorities to conduct a thorough and independent investigation into the circumstances of his death as their duty commands;

5. Reiterates its wish to obtain precise and detailed information on the current situation of the NLD MPs-elect who are still detained, the charges on which they are being held, the facts adduced to substantiate them, the guarantees of fair trial, in particular such right to legal counsel as they may enjoy, the place and exact conditions of their detention, and their state of health;

6. Also wishes to obtain copies of the judgments rendered, if any;

7. Expresses concern at the allegation that pressure is exerted on NLD MPs-elect to resign and that the release of those still detained may depend on their accepting such a condition;

8. Urges the authorities to release all MPs-elect still in detention immediately and unconditionally, and to guarantee their physical integrity and respect for their right to freedom of expression, assembly and association as their duty commands;

9. Notes that, according to the authorities, the NLD MPs-elect called in for questioning during May 1996 have meanwhile been sent back to their homes; considers, however, that their calling in and lodging in guest houses nevertheless constituted a deprivation of their liberty, and wishes to ascertain the legal basis on which they were called in;

10. Urges the authorities to grant the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, on his next visit to the country, free access to all the detained MPs-elect he may wish to meet;

11. Recalls that the Union of Myanmar, a member of the United Nations, is bound to respect the rights established in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is recognized as a general standard on human rights;

12. Reiterates its conviction, particularly in view of the alleged rearrest of some NLD MPs-elect, that a mission of the Inter-Parliamentary Union would help to clarify the many questions regarding the situation of the MPs-elect concerned and thus greatly contribute to progress towards a satisfactory settlement of the case, and earnestly hopes that the authorities of Myanmar will finally agree to the visit of such a mission;

13. Requests the Secretary General to convey these concerns to the authorities, inviting them once again to provide the requested information, and to seek their agreement to the visit of the mission;

14. Calls on all National Groups and member Parliaments to use every available means to press the above concerns with the Myanmar authorities;

15. Further requests the Secretary General to resume contact with the Thai Inter-Parliamentary Group with respect to the investigations into the murder of U Hla Pe;

16. Requests the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to pursue the examination of this case and report to it at its next session (April 1997).