October 14, 2007

Silence the Moment

SAVE LIVES – URGENT ACTION NEEDED!

Myanmar (Burma)

Hla Myo Naung, demonstration leader arrested.

The former student activist Hla Myo Naung has been arrested in Yangoon (ex-Rangoon) on the morning of the 10^th October, while he was looking for treatment for a ruptured cornea. He now risks torture or other mistreatment. If he doesn’t have an operation as soon as possible, Hla Myo Naung risks loosing an eye.

Former law student and member of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, the most important student organisation in Myanmar, Hla Myo Naung was one of the leaders of the national protest movement against the military regime in 1988. Arrested in March 1990, he was condemned to 3 years imprisonment. Those who participated in those demonstrations are known by the name of the “student group of the generation of ‘88”.

Hla Myo Naung has been in hiding since the 21^st August 2007 following the arrest of 13 other members of this group, who were played a leading role in the recent demonstrations against the authorities. He came out of hiding in order to seek medical treatment in an ophthalmic clinic in the district of Sanchaung, where he was apprehended by member s of a special police unit. According to information received his doctor had diagnosed a rupture of the cornea needing immediate surgical attention, lest he was in danger of loosing his sight.

Urgent Action called for by Amnesty International : in the appeals which you would make as quickly as possible please mention the following :

§         Declare your concern for the arrest of Hla Myo Naung, who should have an absolutely urgent eye operation.

§         Call on the authorities to release this man immediately and unconditionally.

§         Demand that this man benefits from medical attention as soon as possible and that he has the right to visits by a lawyer and his family while awaiting his release.

§         Appeal to the authorities to treat Hla Myo Naung and all other detainees with humanity and, in particular, not to submit them to torture or other forms of maltreatment.

§         Demand the release of all people arrested for having participated in these peaceful demonstrations.

APPEALS TO:

Senior General Than Shwe,  State Peace and Development  Council, c/o Ministry of Defence , Napypyitaw, Myanmar.

Nyan Win, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Napypyitaw, Myanmar.

Dr Kyaw Myint, Minister of Health, Ministry of Health, Napypyitaw, Myanmar.

COPIES to your Myanmar Embassy in your country.