URGENT ACTION APPEAL

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URGENT ACTION APPEAL

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19 May 2006

UA 15/06 (originally issued 20 January 2006 and reissued 1
March 2006) - Possible "disappearance"/Fear of
torture/Arbitrary detention

MYANMAR/INDIA
Chit Thein Tun (m), aged 42, liaison officer of Burmese
Solidarity Organization (BSO)
Ma Hnin Hnin (f), aged 24, wife of Chit Thein Tun
Maung Maung Oo (m), aged 40, BSO representative

Ko Po Zaw (m), aged about 23, rice trader
Ma Aye Myint Ma (f), aged about 19, rice trader, wife of Ko
Po Zaw


Chit Thein Tun and Maung Maung Oo are now known to have
been sentenced to death for "high treason". They are in
solitary confinement, in Mandalay Prison. They are not
known to have received any visits.

Myanmar is not known to have carried out any executions in
recent years and is considered abolitionist in practice on
the death penalty. In December 2003, the Myanmar
authorities told Amnesty International that they would not
carry out any executions (of the approximately 200 people
then on death row).

Ko Po Zaw, his wife Ma Aye Myint Ma and Chit Thein Tun's
wife Ma Hnin Hnin have been sentenced to five years'
imprisonment.

No details of their trial proceedings, or when they were
sentenced, are available.


BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Chit Thein Tun and Maung Maung Oo were members of the
outlawed All Burma Students Democractic Front. They were
arrested in connection with two explosions at Nanthphalon
market in Tamu on 8 January (a town near the Indian border
in Sagaing Division) which reportedly killed one person.
Before they were arrested, they had been living as refugees
in Moreh, northwestern India, and working for the Burmese
Solidarity Organization (BSO), which provides support to
Burmese refugees in India.

The Myanmar Minister for Information said at a 22 February
press conference Chit Thein Tun and Maung Maung Oo had
confessed that Maung Maung Oo had been involved in planting
explosives concealed inside a cassette player and a radio.
He also said the explosions had been intended to harm
cross-border trade between Myanmar and India.

Prison conditions in Myanmar are poor, and prisoners often
have health problems exacerbated by inadequate prison diet
and medical treatment. The Myanmar authorities have not
allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross to
visit any prisons since late 2005.


RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as
quickly as possible:
To the Myanmar authorities:
- urging the authorities to give Chit Thein Tun, Maung
Maung Oo, Ko Po Zaw, Ma Aye Myint Ma and Ma Hnin Hnin
immediate access to lawyers of their own choosing, their
families and any medical attention they may require;
- expressing concern that Chit Thein Tun and Maung Maung Oo
are reportedly in prolonged solitary confinement, which is
contrary to international standards on the treatment of
prisoners;
- urging the authorities not to execute Chit Thein Tun and
Maung Maung Oo;
- expressing concern that Chit Thein Tun and Maung Maung Oo
were reportedly abducted from India, and urging the
authorities to allow them to return to India.

To the Indian authorities:
- expressing concern at the reported abduction of Burmese
refugees Maung Maung Oo and Chit Thein Tun from Indian
territory;
- calling on the authorities to investigate this incident
and bring those responsible to justice;
- urging them to ask the Myanmar authorities to immediately
return Maung Maung Oo and Chit Thein Tun, who have been
sentenced to death in Myanmar, to India.


APPEALS TO:
General Than Shwe
Minister of Defense
Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council
c/o Ministry of Defence
Ahlanpya Phaya Street
Yangon, Union of Myanmar
Salutation: Dear General

Shivraj Patil
Minister of Home Affairs
Government of India
104-107 North Block
New Delhi 110 001
India
Salutation: Dear Minister


COPIES TO:
Major General Maung Oo
Minister of Home Affairs and chairman of the Myanmar Human
Rights Committee
Ministry of Home Affairs
Corner of Saya San Street and No 1 Industrial Street
Yankin Township
Yangon, Union of Myanmar

B. Ahamed
Minister of State for External Affairs
172 South Block
New Delhi 11001, India
Fax: [phone]

Acting Ambassador
Embassy of the Union of Myanmar
2300 S St. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Ambassador Ranendra Sen
Embassy of India
2107 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail] or [e-mail]


Please send appeals immediately. Check with the AIUSA
Urgent Action office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Eastern
Time, weekdays only, if sending appeals after 29 June 2006.


Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement
that promotes and defends human rights.

This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact,
including contact information and stop action date (if
applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: [e-mail]
www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

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