Monks plan to sue minister for using chemicals to end protest

 

 According to Justice Trust, a rights group working in Myanmar, the case will be a test of the government's commitment to political reform.

 The rights group says more than 100 monks were hospitalised and 57 suffered deep burns requiring long-term medical care when police broke up the protest at the country's biggest mine, a copper mine near the ancient capital of Mandalay.

In a statement released in November 2014, Amnesty International criticised the government for its inability to hold anyone accountable for the incident. 

"Two years after this brutal attack, it is completely unacceptable that the scores of people injured while protesting are still waiting for justice and reparations. White phosphorus munitions should never be used by the police, the use of such weapons against peaceful protesters is a flagrant violation of international law," said Audrey Gaughran, Director of Global Issues at Amnesty International. 

“No police officer or official who was involved in the attack has been investigated, prosecuted or sanctioned, while the government has failed to provide victims with effective remedies and adequate reparation."

According to the monks and media reports, police lobbed teargas and phosphorus grenades to disperse the protesters. However the government has maintained it used only tear gas and water canon.

Justice Trust said it was supporting monks in their casea gainst Lt Gen Ko Ko, the Home Affairs minister.

The monks requested police last week to register a first information report, the first step in seeking legal redress, but police have not done so yet, said Aung Thane, a lawyer with Justice Trust. They have also sent a letter to President Thein Sein asking that the case be allowed to go forward to a court, he said.

The Home Affairs ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

A semi-civilian government took power in Myanmar in 2011 after 49 years of military rule, but has struggled to deal with civilian unrest and has been accused of back-sliding in its commitment to reform.

Wanbao has run the Lepadaung copper mine since 2010, before the quasi-civilian government was formed. The mining project is being developed by a subsidiary of the Chinese mining company Wanbao Mining Ltd and the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd(UMEHL), the economic arm of the Myanmar military. 

According to the report released in 2013 by a government-established investigation committee Wanbao invested US$997 million to produce about 100,000 tonnes of copper a year. According to the production-sharing contract, the government is to receive 16.8 per cent of the profit, UMEHL 1.8 per cent and Wanbao 13.3 per cent. However, Wanbao is exempted from paying 8 per cent.

To make room for the mine, four villages, made up of 441 households, were supposed to be relocated for the Letpadaung mining project. According to Amnesty International, of these, 245 have been moved to resettlement sites, while the remaining 196 have refused to leave their homes.

The police action in 2012 destroyed or damaged the holy sites of a famous Buddhist teacher who died in 1923, monks say. 

An order to clear the protest sites came from "our superiors" in the Ministry of Home Affairs, which oversees the police, as well as the Sagaing Division government, Police LtCol Thura Thwin Ko Ko told Reuters in 2012.

"We're trying to file this case because we want to show the people that we shouldn't tolerate such injustice," said Tikha Nyana, a monk who suffered burns over 60 per cent of his body and underwent multiple surgeries neighbouring Thailand.

Local residents have continued to protest against the Letpadaung mine in Monywa, about 100 km (60 miles) west of Mandalay, saying thousands of acres of land have been confiscated to enable the project to proceed.

Police opened fire on protesters in December 2014 and killed one person.