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24 September, 2007
Following the lead taken by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the ICEM has registered strong condemnation of the heavy jail sentences given to six labour activists by Burma’s military junta. On 7 September, a closed trial inside Insein prison sentenced four of the activists to 28 years in prison, while two others received 20-year sentences.
The ICEM calls the prison terms “unjustified and scandalous.”
Four of the six were charged with attending a labour rights seminar at the American Centre of the US Embassy on 1 May 2007, and two others were unjustly convicted for bringing attention to the arrests days later. The six were found guilty of sedition and organising an unlawful gathering.
The six men, all labour activists in their 20s, were among 30 Burmese citizens detained at the Labour Day event. While most of those attending were released within hours, Thurein Aung, Kyaw Kyaw, Shwe Joe, Wai Lin, Aung Naing Tun, and Nyi Nyi Zaw were held. On 4 May, Shwe Joe and Aung Naing Tun were released.
Thurein Aung, Wai Lin, Myo Min, and Kyaw Win were sentenced to 28 years, while Nyi Nyi Zaw and Kyaw Kyaw received 20-year prison terms. Kyaw Win and Myo Min were arrested on 10 May for travelling to the Thai-Burmese border to get word out of the country about the May Day arrests.
In the ICEM protest letter to the senior leader of the military junta, the global union federation stated that it “learned all six men were found guilty of ‘inciting hatred or contempt for the government’ during a trial held inside Rangoon’s Insein prison, and that some were convicted for being members of ‘illegal associations.’”
The letter added, “… detaining and sentencing workers who exercise their right to freedom of association is a clear violation of international labour standards, including ILO Convention 87, which has been ratified by your country.”
The Burmese junta has a long history of unwarranted attacks on the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB), the legitimate labour organisation that defends workers’ rights in Burma.
The ICEM demands the immediate and unconditional release of the six. The ICEM protest letter can be found here.