By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

YANGONG, Myanmar – A defense lawyer, Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min, who fled to Thailand, has spoken out about delays and restrictions in the Myanmar judicial system.  Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min and fellow lawyer Nyi Nyi Htwe were representing 11 youths who had staged a protest march in Rangoon. Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min and Nyi Nyi Htwe were charged with intentional insult to a public servant sitting in judicial proceedings after three of his clients turned their backs to the court during their trial as a protest against the legal process.  The Hlaing Thaya township court in Rangoon sentenced them to six months in prison.

Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min told reporters in Thailand that his clients were arrested by police, and were mentally and physically tortured to obtain evidence that they had committed the crime.
“Evidence obtained in such a manner by the police was then used in court. In that case, I examined five witnesses before I fled the country,” he said.

He also described to Human Rights Watch the secretive workings of the Myanmar’s legal system.  He said political activists awaiting sentencing in prison can meet with their defense lawyers only at police custody centers with police and intelligence officers present. Trials are often shrouded in secrecy, with lawyers not informed when their clients are to appear in court. Lawyers representing political prisoners face arbitrary delays when requesting assistance from authorities or documents such as case files, he added.

At a year-end news conference, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has criticized the Myanmar Junta for not following through on its promises of advancement towards democracy.  Mr. Ban said Junta has failed to engage in democratic dialogue and release its political prisoners.  The United Nations has repeatedly called on Myanmar Junta to release democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrested for 13 of the past 19 years, as well as all other political prisoners.
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For more information, please see:

Democratic Voice of Burma – Exiled lawyer slams Burmese legal system – 16 December 2008

Human Rights Watch – Burma: Lawyer’s Testimony Highlights Distorted Justice– 16 December 2008

Irrawaddy – Burmese Defense Lawyer Flees to Thailand, Blasts Regime – 15 December 2008

Radio Free Asia – Burmese Lawyer Flees, Speaks Out – 18 December 2008

Voice of America – UN Chief Criticizes Burma for Lack of Democratic Progress – 18 December 2008

By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

HANOI, Vietnam – Today, nearly one in four Vietnamese use the internet and the number is steadily increasing. Vietnam authorities are worried over the growing number of bloggers and their increased use of the internet to express their views against the government. Currently, all Vietnam media agencies including televised news, radio and newspapers are state run. “They (state media) decide what we will hear, what we will read and what we will see,” said a blogger who identifies himself as Mr. Cold. “They are slaves of the Communists.”

In response, a senior Vietnamese internet security expert said that the Vietnamese authorities plan to police the content of dissident blogs through random checks and self-policing by the country’s blogging community. Authorities currently block some oversea websites that are critical of the government and authorities usually block anything they deem as encouraging public protest or any views that will anger China.

The government crackdown on bloggers has caused widespread criticism. “These new censorship regulations are not in accordance with freedom of speech, a right recognized by the Vietnamese constitution and international conventions signed by Vietnam,” said Le Minh Phieu, a Vietnamese legal scholar living in France.

On December 5, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court confirmed the September verdict and sentencing of Nguyen Hoang Hai, who uses the weblog name Dieu Cay and is a member of the online Free Vietnamese Journalists Club.

Dieu Cay has taken part in anti-Beijing demonstrations about a sensitive sea territory dispute with China and was arrested in April, days before the Olympic torch passed through former Saigon.
After a quick proceeding, the court upheld the sentence of two-and-a-half years imprisonment for Dieu Cay on the charge of tax fraud. “The police refused to let Dieu Cay pay his taxes in order to fabricate evidence of his guilt,” Dieu Cay’s lawyer told Reporters Without Borders. “This conviction was premeditated by the authorities.”

Many see Dieu Cay’s sentence as politically motivated. “The court took no account of new evidence submitted by Dieu Cay’s defence,” Reporters Without Borders said. “These rushed proceedings clearly show that the authorities are persecuting this blogger. The appeal court’s verdict was an unjust decision resulting from a trumped-up charge.”

Shawn Crispin, a Southeast Asia representative for the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, said “Nguyen Van Hai’s harsh treatment was meant to send a message to all of the country’s bloggers.”

For more information, please see:

AFP –  Vietnam Court Upholds Blogger’s Jail Term – 4 December 2008 

RFA – Vietnam to Police Blogs – 12 December 2008

RSF – Leading Blogger’s Conviction Upheld on Appeal – 5 December 2008

San Francisco Chronicle – Bloggers the New Rebels in Vietnam – 14 December 2008