Khine Myo Htun (aka Khaing Myo Htun)
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2017-055-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2017
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: 21.916221
Longitude: 95.955974
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Myanmar (Burma)
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- UN Special Procedures: Thematic
- Unclear
- Dates of prior UN action
- 26 August 2016; 20 February 2017; 18 August 2017
- Type of record
- Named individual
- Gender
- Male
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Individual's/organization's activity
political and environmental activist and official of the Arakan Liberation Party
- Type of rights defended
- Caste/Ethnic minorities' rights/Racism
- Land rights/environment
- Was the victim a civil servant, member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
cooperation with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Special Procedures: country
- Dates of engagement
- 22 June 2016
- Type of attempted engagement
- Meeting with UN officials during country visit / with locally present UN officials
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- Shortly after 22 June 2016
- Reprisal information
Arrest and detention
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- State actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- Yes
- Government response dates
- 6 October 2016
- Government response content
On 6 October 2016, the Government responded to the allegations of reprisals against Mr.Htun, stating that on 5 May 2016 a case was filed against him for publishing a statement with the intent to mislead the public, defame the Tatmyadaw, or Myanmar Armed Forces, and intimidate the public by using false information. In its reply the Government did not address the allegations relating to reprisals
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No
- How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
- 1
- In which SG report was this case followed up on? 0
- 2018
- Follow up information provided in SG report 0
42.The case of Mr. Khaing Myo Htun (also known as Mr. Khine Myo Htun), a human rights defender who had reported on forced labour cases in Rakhine State, was addressed by four special procedures mandate holders (A/HRC/34/75, MMR 2/2016, MMR 7/2017) and included in the September 2017 report of the Secretary-General (see A/HRC/36/31, para.43 and Annex, paras. 53-55).On 8 September 2017 the Government responded to the special procedures communication (MMR 7/2017) pertaining to the charges related to defamation and incitement. It is alleged that the arrest and detention of Mr. KhaingMyo Htun was linked to his cooperation with Ms. Yanghee Lee, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, with whom he met during her visit in June 2016 shortly before his detention.The charges against him relate to a written statement issued on 24 April 2016 by the Arakan Liberation Party, of which Mr. Khaing Myo Htun is a member, claiming that the Myanmar Army had engaged in severe human rights violations, including forced labour, forced land relocation, hostage taking, and arbitrary beatings and ill-treatment of combatants. 43.The ILO Governing Body noted in its report of 7 February 2018 that it remained deeply concerned that on 12 October 2017, Mr. Khaing Myo Htun, was convicted of defamation and incitement under section 505 of the Penal Code and sentenced to 18 months in jail, following eight months in detention during his trial. Ms. Lee, in her March 2018 report to the Human Rights Council, noted that he was convicted of disturbing public tranquillity and incitement under Sections 505(b) and (c) in October 2017 for allegations he made about forced labour the Myanmar security forces.Subsequently, after 19 months Mr. Htun was released on 22 February 2018 (see A/HRC/37/70, para. 15)
- Followup Trends 0
- Deterioration/further reprisals
- Did the government respond? 0
- Yes
- Was this case followed up by a UN body? 0
- ILO
- Unclear