{"id":1883,"date":"2014-10-15T16:12:13","date_gmt":"2014-10-15T15:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=1883"},"modified":"2014-10-16T11:07:39","modified_gmt":"2014-10-16T10:07:39","slug":"uncertain-future-unite-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=1883","title":{"rendered":"Uncertain future for Unite hero"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When Unite member U Uttara was invited by the minister of health in Burma to set up a hospital and prison chaplaincy service there, he did not expect to be arrested at 2 am in the morning, dis-robed as a Buddhist priest, and thrown into the very prison he was meant to be helping.<\/p>\n

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U Uttara, a leading member of Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Buddhist community is caught up in charges his lawyers say are not even legal.<\/p>\n

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Uttara, who is currently on leave from Guy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and St Thomas\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 hospital chaplaincy service, has now been released from Insein prison, described by human rights activists as \u00e2\u20ac\u015bnotorious even by Burmese standards\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

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Currently on bail, he is facing a prison sentence if found guilty.<\/p>\n

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In Burma \u00e2\u20ac\u201c also known as Myanmar and until recently an international pariah state \u00e2\u20ac\u201c few things are quite as they seem. The charges against Uttara and four other monks relate to what amounts to a dispute over the ownership of the Maha Than Ti Thukha monastery.<\/p>\n

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Last year the government handed the monastery back to Uttara\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s order of monks \u00e2\u20ac\u201c who had built it \u00e2\u20ac\u201c despite protests from government-backed monks.<\/p>\n

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Uttara and his colleagues were acting as short-term caretakers after the Burmese government invited him back and paid for him to set up a multi-faith prison and chaplaincy service.<\/p>\n

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Uttara and his colleagues may have simply been in the right place at the wrong time. Without any warning at 2 am on June 10 this year the monastery was stormed by a collection of 400 government-backed rival priests and local police militia.<\/p>\n

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They demanded that Uttara and his fellow monks sign over the monastery to them. When this was refused they were arrested.<\/p>\n

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Taken to Ta-mwe police station they were dis-robed as monks, formally charged and sent to prison awaiting trial. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s difficult to separate what may be a dispute with rival monks from what has happened in Burma for the last 24 years and Uttara\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s role in it.<\/p>\n

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Asylum <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Uttara was granted political asylum in Britain when he fled Burma after a failed attempt to topple the vicious military junta which ruled Burma since 1990.<\/p>\n

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Aung San Suu Kyi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s National League for Democracy had won those elections by a landslide. The military refused to let her or her party take office.<\/p>\n

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She was charged \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it still isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t clear with what \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and placed under house arrest for 15 out of the next 20 years. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, she was eventually released shortly after the 2010 elections from which she was barred.<\/p>\n

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Uttara was one of the most active and high profile campaigners calling for her release and for the return of democracy in Burma. He had spoken at the United Nations and pressed the case personally with President Obama, Gordon Brown and David Cameron.<\/p>\n

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Campaigning monks<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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The monks in his order are prominent human rights campaigners. The 2010 Burmese elections were heavily criticised as a sham, but they are heralded as the first move from military to civilian leadership.<\/p>\n

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Civilian in the following sense: General Thein Sein took off his uniform, put on a suit and became President Thein Sein.<\/p>\n

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Civilian also in the following sense: A quarter of all seats in the parliament are reserved for the military and four key cabinet posts are reserved for serving generals.<\/p>\n

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The president\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s promise to free all political prisoners by the end of 2013 has not been met. Human rights campaigners claim the number of political prisoners may have doubled.<\/p>\n

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These are not the only concerns of the international community. The Burmese army has been accused of using rape and sexual violence and there remain warnings of potential genocide.<\/p>\n

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Tomas Ojea Quintana, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Burma, called for the UN to set up a formal inquiry into allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n

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Since the formation of the military-led \u00e2\u20ac\u015bcivilian\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 government in 2010, he says, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bsystematic militarization contributes to human-rights abuses. These abuses include land confiscation, forced labor, internal displacement, extrajudicial killings, and sexual violence.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey are widespread. They continue today. And, they remain essentially unaddressed by the authorities.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Uttara\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s supporters in the UK are concerned about his treatment and what may lie ahead, although he has now been re-robed as a priest.<\/p>\n

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Reverend Mia Hilborn, one of his colleagues at Guy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and St Thomas\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 described Uttara as \u00e2\u20ac\u015bfearless\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 in the fight for human rights.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUttara is a national hero in Burmese folklore. He and his order of monks are very, very popular and there have been demonstrations in support of him and the monks charged with him.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bU Panasara, who is also charged, trained at Guy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and St Thomas\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 chaplaincy service, as a chaplaincy volunteer. The more political pressure there is, the more likely the charges will be dropped, they are sensitive to international pressure.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re concerned Uttara will face the same ordeal as Suu Kyi. She was held in a legal limbo over 15 years, her case was never resolved and she was freed after international pressure.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail has led the Unite campaign to free Uttara, Panasara and their fellow monks.<\/p>\n

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She said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe charges are baseless and illegal under Burmese law \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they should be dropped immediately by the authorities.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe Burmese government needs to prove that it is making good progress to creating a country where the human rights of all sections of society are respected.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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