The appeal of Muslim interfaith activists Zaw Zaw Latt, 29, and Pwint Phyu Latt, 35, was rejected on December 22, 2016, leaving them to live out the entirety of their 4-year sentences in the Mandalay prison. In addition to losing their freedom, one of them is now in danger of losing her life.
“Pwint Phyu Latt’s health is not good,” said Harry Myo Lin, the director of human rights advocacy group The Seagull. “She is suffering from asthma and a chronic heart condition, and the prison doctor does not have enough medicine to treat her.”
He said Pwint Phyu Latt’s mother has been petitioning to send the required medication to her daughter, but prison authorities have been inconsistent in letting the medication in.
“Her life is in danger,” Harry Myo Lin said.
He also said the political prisoner’s mother, with whom he remains in touch, has been trying to arrange medical tests for her daughter that cannot be conducted inside the prison, though these requests have been rejected.
Civil Rights Defenders, a Stockholm-based group, reports that Zaw Zaw Latt has developed a liver problem during the course of his detention.
The group points out that the International Convention of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), to which Myanmar is a signatory, stipulates that the failure to provide prisoners access to proper medical care constitutes a violation of the right to health.
In addition to the prison authorities’ neglect of prisoners’ health needs, which Harry Myo Lin said affects all political prisoners, there are other ways in which Zaw Zaw Latt and Pwint Phyu Latt are being targeted for their religion and their interfaith activities.
“Every week, the prisoners can receive visitors. The conversations of these two prisoners with their families and visitors are always recorded, unlike other prisoners,” Harry Myo Lin said. “In my opinion, this is because they were working actively on interfaith peace initiatives, and they are now being used as examples.”
When asked why two peace activists would be openly targeted by a government whose stated goal is to bring peace to Myanmar, Harry Myo Lin laughed and said: “The government says it wants to make peace, but the real situation is different.”
Both Zaw Zaw Latt and Pwint Phyu Latt held positions within the NLD organization before they were arrested in July 2015. Pwint Phyu Latt served as secretary for the Chanayethazan Township (Middle Ward) branch of the party, while Zaw Zaw Latt was a communications officer for the NLD’s youth department.
They were arrested years after the crimes they allegedly committed, after the Buddhist-nationalist Organization for the Protection of Race and Religion, known in Burmese as Ma Ba Tha, set its sights on the two Muslim activists.
They were convicted and sentenced to two years in prison plus hard labor on February 26, 2016, under Section 13(1) of the Immigration (Emergency Provisions) Act for allegedly crossing illegally into India from Chin State during a humanitarian relief mission in April 2014.
Zaw Win Bo, 22, a Hindu colleague of the two activists, also faced this charge, but he was released soon thereafter. To Harry Myo Lin and other observers, this is evidence that the two Muslim activists are being targeted for their religion.
The two were also convicted and sentenced to an additional two years in prison on April 8, 2016, under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act for visiting the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in June 2013.
Zaw Zaw Latt was photographed during that trip posing with an M16 rifle and spending time with Buddhist monks. The images sparked calls from Ma Ba Tha for his arrest. Pwint Phyu Latt was arrested when she refused to testify against her colleague.
Following the April 2016 verdict, Zaw Zaw Latt said he was confident that Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, which had begun governing just a few days earlier, would have the two activists free by the Thingyan water festival. They submitted their appeal after this did not come to pass.
The families of the two activists also met with Mandalay Region Chief Minister Zaw Myint Maung, who said the two would be freed. When this did not come to fruition, the families and religious leaders sent letters to President Htin Kyaw, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and Union Parliament Speaker Mahn Win Khaing Than to request the freedome of the two political prisoners. These letters received no response.
Harry Myo Lin also says the pair and their lawyer are preparing to file an appeal at the Supreme Court of the Union in Naypyidaw.
Reader Interactions