Quotes can be attributed to David Baulk, Myanmar Human Rights Specialist with Fortify Rights: Today’s verdict deals another blow to human rights in Myanmar. Khaing Myo Htun is going to spend another three months in jail for doing what Myanmar’s authorities should be doing: defending innocent people from human rights violations. Today’s news is only going to strengthen civil society’s resolve to keep on fighting. If the authorities think they can break the spirit of Myanmar’s human rights defenders, they’re sorely mistaken.



This is just the latest example of Myanmar’s judicial system serving the military rather than the public interest. At the end of the day, Khaing Myo Htun was trying to help the Government and Military to do their job. Myanmar’s human rights defenders are imprisoned for helping innocent people get justice for wrongs they’ve suffered, and that shows how dire the human rights situation is in Myanmar right now.



Today’s verdict is yet another message from the Government of Myanmar to the rest of the world that their interest in human rights isn’t even skin deep. The Government needs to drop its overly broad defamation laws and bring them in line with international standards to prevent more cases like this from happening in the future. At a moment when all eyes are on Myanmar, the government had an opportunity to do the right thing, and once again, failed.



Background:



Sittwe police arrested Khaing Myo Htun, a 35-year old human rights defender with years of experience working with civil society organizations, on July 25, 2016. Lieutenant-Colonel Tin Naing Tun from the Myanmar Army’s Sittwe-based Regional Operations Command had filed sedition and incitement charges against Khaing Myo Htun under Sections 505(b) and (c) of the Myanmar Penal Code. The charges relate to an April 24, 2016 statement published by the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP)—the political wing of the Arakan Liberation Army—claiming the Myanmar Army used forced labor and committed other violations against civilians in Rakhine State in early 2016. At the time of the statement, Khaing Myo Htun was the ALP’s deputy information officer."



For more information, please contact: David Baulk, Myanmar Human Rights Specialist, Fortify Rights, +95.979.311.1685 (Myanmar), +66.92.489.0106 (Thailand), david.baulk@fortifyrights.org; Twitter: @davidbaulk, @FortifyRights



Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Fortify Rights, +66.85.028.0044, matthew.smith@fortifyrights.org; Twitter: @matthewfsmith, @FortifyRights