by Lealu Elliott
How true is this oft-repeated proverb in other legal jurisdictions in the world? Not so for the justice system of Myanmar, who earlier this year found a group of satirical performers, calling themselves ‘Peacock Generation’, guilty of undermining the military through the medium of the traditional art form “thangyat” which involves spoken word poetry, dance and comedy. The individuals were charged and convicted on the 30th October 2019 under Section 505 (a) of Myanmar’s Penal Code and sentenced to one year in prison.
Is this enough to constitute a crime?
“Is she really a criminal? She hasn’t committed robbery or anything. How can they treat her like that?” – Khin Myint, the mother of one of the defendants.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-50238031
Unfortunately, they can because they have legal authority to do so. Despite being a civilian government, such authoritarian laws repressing freedom of expression against the military exist due to the previous five-decade long military dictatorship in the country of Myanmar.
Indeed, civilian government leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been criticized by the public who state that in fact “little has changed” under her government.
Joanne Mariner for Amnesty International has also labeled this an:
“appalling verdict” which “speaks volumes about the dire state of freedom of expression in Myanmar”,
whilst human rights groups look on the case as a “negative step in Myanmar’s faltering transition to democracy”
Punishing people with the full force of the law for criticizing a government seems dictatorial, disproportionate, and unjust. Yet, this is not the only law or instance in which such disagreeable action has been taken by the state of Myanmar in relation to restricting individual’s rights of freedom of expression. Contrary to their rights contained within Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), activists peacefully exercising their freedom of expression are still being arrested, convicted and imprisoned by the Myanmar authorities.
