Highlights: Lawyers defending opponents of the Burmese military junta are at great risk, according to a Human Rights Watch report. Many lawyers can no longer or dare to practice their profession, even though, since the February 2021 coup, more than 23,000 people have been arrested and would need to be defended. According to HRW, "junta authorities are fabricating new rules at short notice, to intimidate and discredit professionals who work to protect the fundamental right to a fair trial," the report says.

Lawyers defending opponents of the Burmese military junta risk high, according to a Human Rights Watch report published Thursday, June 8: harassment, intimidation, threats and convictions...

Burma: Human Rights Watch Denounces Intimidation of Opponents' Lawyers

Lawyers defending opponents of the Burmese military junta are at great risk, according to a Human Rights Watch report published on Thursday 8 June: harassment, intimidation, threats and prison sentences, some have even been tortured. Many lawyers can no longer or dare to practice their profession, even though, since the February 2021 coup, more than 23,000 people have been arrested and would need to be defended.

Khin Maung Zaw, a lawyer appointed by the National League for Democracy to defend former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, speaks to reporters in Naypyitaw. He was one of the first lawyers intimidated by the junta because of his activities as a lawyer. AP

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In this 39-page report entitled "We are less and less numerous", Human Rights Watch (HRW) lists, for example, the case of Tin Wang Aung, a criminal lawyer from the Mandalay region, who had a broken leg and arm. He had to be fed through a tube inserted into his stomach after being beaten by law enforcement during his pre-trial detention.

The report also mentions the case of lawyer Ywet Nu Aung, who was sentenced last December to 15 years in prison with hard labour. Accused of providing financial support to militias fighting the junta, she was arrested following a hearing in which she represented a senior member of Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy party. The former leader was among the first people targeted by the junta, having already been sentenced to 33 years in prison.

Targeted by a justice system in the hands of the military regime, the work of lawyers is also systematically hampered: they are prevented, for example, from communicating privately with their clients. According to HRW, "junta authorities are fabricating new rules at short notice, to intimidate and discredit professionals who work to protect the fundamental right to a fair trial."

To write its report, the NGO relied in particular on interviews with 19 lawyers.

Last year, a court ordered the death sentences of four political opponents, including a former member of Aung San Suu Kyi's party, who were executed in July. Burma had not used the death penalty for decades.

Military authorities should immediately release all those arbitrarily detained and stop harassing lawyers.

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Burma: Human Rights Watch Denounces Intimidation of Opponents' Lawyers

Burma: Human Rights Watch Denounces Intimidation of Opponents' Lawyers

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