Tough justice for Burmese human rights trainers

Hinthada provincial court Judge Aung Min Htin on Wednesday sentenced two members of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters Network (HRDP), Myint Hlaing and Myint Naing, to eight year in jail and villagers Kyaw Lwin, Mya Sein, Hla Shein, Myint and Win to four years in prison, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma. 

On April 18 Myint Hlaing and Myint Naing were allegedly severely beaten by a gang of pro-government thugs in Hinthada, 100 kilometres north-west of Rangoon, where they were trying to conduct a human rights training course for the local population.

The attack, which left both men in hospital, elicited a strong rebuke from the New York-based Human Rights Watch group.  

"This brutal attack against grassroots human rights defenders is the latest in a series of assaults on peaceful political activities in Burma," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.  

"The government should order its thugs to stop harassing people for promoting human rights," Adams said in a statement issued on April 24.

On May 2 Myint Hlaing, Myint Naing and five villagers who had helped HRDP to conduct the human rights training in the area were arrested by local authority and charged with inciting unrest.  

Now they all face four to eight years in jail. //(Deutsche Presse-Agentur/DPA)