Jakarta – Lawmakers throughout Southeast Asia on Tuesday called upon the Myanmar armed force to without delay stop their project of arrests, unconditionally launch all existing detainees, and abstain from utilizing violent ways in dealing with tranquil protesters.
” The scale of arrests since the coup gives you a clear indication of where the military junta is taking the nation: a place without any area for critics or any political opposition to exist,” Mu Sochua, a board member of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) and former Cambodian Member of Parliament (MP), noted in a declaration received in Jakarta, Tuesday.
” All local and international stars should get this clear: there can be no chance out of the present scenario without all those arbitrarily arrested being released.” Mu Sochua verified.
According to rights organization Help for Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), in merely 4 weeks, at least 913 individuals, consisting of political leaders, members of the previous Union Election Commission (UEC), civil servants, human rights activists, and trainees, were apprehended and kept in detention or have exceptional arrest warrants versus them.
The AAPP likewise estimates that some 30 individuals lost their lives in the violent crackdown by Myanmar’s security forces on peaceful protesters.
Of those arrested and detained, at least 59 are elected representatives of the Union and regional parliaments comprising the state counsellor, president and vice president, speaker and deputy speaker of Parliament, chief ministers, and Union and regional-level MPs.
A lot of are placed in detention at unidentified locations, without charge or access to their legal representatives. Some are detained in military barracks, such as tactical command.
” The majority of those detained have actually not been charged and have actually neither seen an attorney nor their households in about a month. Those individuals are at threat. Being out of sight is where abuse and ill-treatment can happen, and we all know this is not foreign to Myanmar’s jails,” Mu Sochua warned.
In the few cases where they have been charged, the laws used versus the MPs include: Section 505( b) of the Penal Code (publication or sharing of declarations with intent to trigger fear or alarm to the public), Area 25 of the Natural Disaster Management Law (causing a catastrophe through any negligent or willful act), Area 8 of the Export and Import Law (exporting or importing forbidden products), and Section 67 of the Telecom Law (for possessing or using telecommunication devices that needs a license).
Furthermore, the junta has actually been threatening and harassing members of the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH).
The Committee members took an oath days after the coup and have actually pledged to continue to fulfill their required as agents of the people.
On February 26, the brand-new military-appointed UEC stated that it is unlawful to form committees representing parliaments and threatened to take legal action against those doing so.
A minimum of 21 elected representatives, including 17 members of the CRPH, are currently in hiding after finding out about arrest warrants being issued versus them under Section 505( a) or (b) of the Penal Code and/or the Natural Catastrophe Management Law.
The APHR alleges that by locking up and bothering chosen agents, who are simply exercising the mandate of the general public, the armed force is attempting to muffle the people’s voices and rob them of their options.
” We call on all parliamentarians worldwide to act in solidarity with Myanmar and utilize their position within and outside the parliament to call for all those arbitrarily detained to be right away released and to work for the restoration of democracy in Myanmar. Let us ensure that our colleagues sit in parliament and not in jail,” Mu Sochua stressed.
Associated news: Indonesian, Singaporean foreign ministers discuss Myanmar problem
Associated news: Indonesia to add to settling Myanmar problem: Minister
MODIFIED BY INE
