Myanmar: Union Leader Sentenced To Seven Years In Prison

Thet Hnin Aung is a union leader of the registered labour organization known as MICS TUsF (Myanmar Industries, Crafts and Services Trade Unions Federation), where he worked to improve the working conditions for workers in Myanmar. In 2021, he was charged with violation of Article 17/1 of the local “Unlawful Association Law” for his active participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement. He was sentenced to two years in prison, which he served in Insein Prison in Yangon and Zaymathwe Prison in Mon State. After his two-year sentence, he was released on 26 June 2023. After being ‘released’, prison officials asked him and the other two prisoners to wait to finalize some paperwork. According to the prison procedure, the released prisoners, accompanied by their families, must then go to Criminal Record Office (CRO) at that township’s police station. 

  

However, Thet Hnin Aung never met up with his family and never arrived at CRO. His family was informed by a witness that on this same day of release Thet Hnin Aung and two prisoners were taken away by soldiers who placed black hoods over their heads and took them away by a military car. Following these events, Thet Hnin Aung’s family inquired to the chief of police who stated that this was likely a military operation. On 28 June, Thet Hnin Aung’s family decided to go to the military basecamp in Paung, Mon State to inquire about his whereabouts. Some soldiers stopped them in front of the gate and threatened them not to step further. After five months of no news, in November 2023, Thet Hnin Aung finally contacted his family and they saw him in person after he was transferred to Insein Prison in Yangon. They could not determine where he was held prior to his current location, but he presented visible signs of torture and other ill-treatment.  

 

During his time of enforced disappearance, Thet Hnin Aung was subjected to a military trial where he was not present, nor was he allowed to be legally represented. Nonetheless, he was charged with Article 52a, a Myanmar counter terrorism charge, and given the maximum sentence of seven years with hard labour. This is the first time a labour activist had been given this sentence. The conviction and sentence are most likely linked to his activism work and more so his involvement in the Civil Disobedience Movement.   

 

Following the military coup on 1 February 2021, the Myanmar military seized control and declared a state of emergency, leading to the formation of the State Administration Council also known as SAC. Since then, more than 26,242 individuals have been arrested, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). Myanmar military authorities have executed at least four people and sentenced at least 123 people to death. Additionally, sixteen labour organizations were publicly declared illegal by the Myanmar military on 2 March 2021. 

Since the coup, the junta has committed widespread and systematic abuses against the people that may constitute crimes against humanity. Thousands have been jailed, tortured, and killed, with brutal tactics employed, including airstrikes, burning of villages, antipersonnel mines, torture, arbitrary detention, and unlawful killings. The situation has become more dire in 2024 with an enforced conscription law, which has increased instability in Myanmar and across the region. This has led to an increase in the numbers of internally displaced people and refugees to neighbouring countries and the lack of provision for conscientious objection. 

  

Nevertheless, in the aftermath of the coup, people across Myanmar have shown remarkable courage and solidarity in demanding respect for their rights. Civil society actors, like Thet Hnin Aung, have braved enormous risks to document the military’s crimes and to deliver essential assistance to conflict-affected communities. It is time for the world to support them.