Meeting informally with Ethnic-Rakhine Human Rights Defender Khaing Myo Htun- on 9th July- 2018 (Myanmar)
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| Photo- 9th July-2018 (Myanmar) |
Ethnic-Rakhine human
rights defender Khaing Myo Htun
Tonight on 9th July, 2018 I had
plenty of time, having long and great conversation with Khaing Myo Htun who has
a long history of working for human rights, justice, and accountability. We met
in Thailand in 2006 and have been working for our community since then. Today, we talked about land grabbing in Rakhine and mostly about Manaung Airport, which made many people lose their lands, in Manaung island, Rakhine state.
His
work is essential to ensure these abuses no longer happen and that perpetrators
are held accountable. Khaing Myo Htun is a well-known and respected member of
civil society in Rakhine State. He has worked as a human rights defender and
environmental activist in Myanmar for more than a decade. In 2008 he founded
Natural Resources for the People—an organization advocating for the rights of
farmers, women, and ethnic leaders in Rakhine State. We met in Thai-Burma
Border in 2006 and he had already been very much familiar with all the issues,
happening around the world and he was already ready to handle them. Since 2006,
he was really ready to fight for people in Myanmar not just for Rakhine, Myanmar which has
the longest civil wars and many problems to be solved. After 2011, we returned
Rakhine state, starting work for our community more seriously.
In 2016, Khaing Myo
Htun got arrested in relation to a statement published on April 24, 2016 by the
Arakan Liberation Party (ALP)—the political wing of the Arakan Liberation
Army—claiming that the Myanmar Army used forced labor and committed other
violations against civilians in Rakhine State in 2016. At the time, Khaing Myo
Htun was the deputy information officer for the ALP which signed a ceasefire agreement with the government of Myanmar on 5 April 2012. Lots of people from different townships were
standing with Khaing Myo Htun, demonstrating and crying, asking government for releasing
ethnic-Rakhine human rights defender Khaing Myo Htun immediately and
unconditionally. I have never seen before like these numbers of people in different ages, on the
street. His news was very hot all times when he was in prison; all of the Myanmar Medias
as well as lots of international news agencies and human rights organization
were writing about his report. According to the sources, villagers from Rakhine state came and gave
evidence in the court that they were forced to porter for the Tatmadaw, but
this evidence was not acknowledged in the judgment.
On February
22, Khaing Myo Htun was released from prison after 19 months following a
conviction related to a statement alleging that the Myanmar military committed
human rights abuses in Rakhine State. Khaing Myo Htun has dedicated his life to fighting for human rights, justice, and accountability in Myanmar
and one of his supportive international organizations -Earth Right International- worked with a group of
local lawyers in Sittwe to defend him in court against these unlawful charges. Moreover, when he was in prison, he was awarded prizes for his work to the community and its people. His family without him, attended to the awarding ceremony.
“We must fight for
inborn and inherent rights to be free from the yoke of those that abuse their
power, for the sake of all human beings around the world until the day when we
pass away and so long as we are alive in this world,” wrote Khaing Myo Htun to
his supporters @ https://earthrights.org/wp-content/uploads/Khaing-Myo-Htun-Letter.pdf
Khaing Myo
Htun’s story is one of perseverance in the struggle to hold perpetrators
accountable for human rights abuses. After 19 months in prison, his dedication
remains strong, with plans to work with Arakan Natural Resources and
Environmental Network and Natural Resource for the People (NRFP). In term of campaign, Khaing Myo Htun campaigned with Arakan Oil Watch
and co-founded NRFP, working with farmers, women, and ethnic leaders to empower
them to advocate for their rights, which you can see on this video @ https://earthrights.org/khaing-myo-htun-myanmar/
Aung Myint Thu (Manaung Island)
Uploaded - 10-July-2018
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