The Myanmar government should immediately free political activist Khaing Myo Htun and investigate allegations that the army has committed abuses against civilians in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, legal and advocacy organization Earth Rights International (ERI) said in a statement on 4 August.
Khaing Myo Htun, a member of the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) and prominent environmental activist, was arrested last week accused of sedition and incitement under Myanmar’s penal code after implicating the army in crimes against humanity and forced portering of civilians in the western state.
ERI said it believes that these charges are politically motivated and being pursued to deter activists from probing ongoing human rights violations in Myanmar’s ethnic minority states.
“The army has once again demonstrated its ruthlessness and unwillingness to change by going after activists who dare to expose its abuses, despite the introduction of a new democratic government,” said Ka Hsaw Wa, co-founder and Executive Director of ERI. “Instead of prosecuting an activist fighting for social justice, the government should immediately launch an independent inquiry into these allegations of army misconduct in Rakhine State. It is disgraceful that human rights activists continue to be persecuted for exercising their democratic rights in a country led by a former prisoner of conscience.”
The ALP provoked controversy in April when it published a statement accusing the Myanmar army of violating the Geneva Conventions by targeting civilians for forced portering and torture, warning that this could unravel ongoing peace talks between the ALP and the Myanmar government. Khaing Myo Htun was subsequently charged under section 505(b) and 505(c) of Myanmar’s colonial era penal code – for sedition and incitement respectively – although his name did not appear on the statement.  The charges were filed on 5 May by Lt-Col Tin Naing Tun, a staff general (grade 1) from the Sittwe-based Regional Operations Command.
Khaing Myo Htun later missed two court hearings because he was traveling and did not receive his summons, resulting in a warrant being put out for his arrest.
His next court hearing is on Friday 5 August, when he hopes to be granted bail on medical grounds as he suffers from a weak nervous system and requires daily medicine.