The legal troubles for a former child soldier already convicted of public incitement continued to unfold at a Yangon court on Tuesday and also appear to have ensnared three others, with all four accused of having desecrated the Union seal.
More than 150 civil society organisations have released a statement condemning Burma’s judiciary for handing down a two-year prison sentence to former child soldier Aung Ko Htwe.
A Yangon court on Wednesday sentenced the former child soldier Aung Ko Htwe to two years’ imprisonment with hard labour under section 505(b) of Burma’s Penal Code, a provision broadly covering public incitement.
Court proceedings were interrupted by defendant Aung Ko Htwe shouting that he refused to accept “a cow judge” and that he does not recognise the judicial system.
The long-running trial of a former child soldier charged with public incitement looks to be nearing an end as a judge in Yangon said at a hearing on Tuesday that final arguments in the case will be heard on 20 March.
A former child soldier charged with public incitement was sentenced to six months in prison for an additional contempt of court charge at a hearing on Wednesday, as his trial over the initial alleged transgression continued.
A former child soldier charged with public incitement told a Yangon court on Wednesday that he would boycott future trial proceedings, saying he no longer had faith in the judicial system’s ability to render a fair verdict.
Hopes that the judge presiding over a controversial court case involving a former child soldier would drop the incitement charge brought against him were dashed on Wednesday as the magistrate decided to allow the prosecution to proceed.
Several U.S. State Department officials accuse the Secretary of State of failing to curtail the enlistment of child soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Burma.
Lead Story Military News Rangoon
“It is worth questioning the judge’s rationale,” Zaw Min Hlaing said. “She could clearly make a decision today but decided to skip to the next hearing.”
Aung Ko Htwe told Radio Free Asia he deserted his post in Shan State alongside some fellow servicemen in 2007.
A preliminary hearing for a former child soldier accused of possibly inciting the public for telling his story of forced conscription as a minor was postponed on Friday as the defendant’s lawyer asked the court for more time to prepare for the case.
Conflict Lead Story Military News
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to remove Iraq and Burma from a US list of the world’s worst offenders in the use of child soldiers.
Human Trafficking Lead Story Military News
A child soldier has been returned to his family after media reports draw attention to his story in March this year.
Burma’s military released 46 children and young people from service, the United Nations said in a statement on Monday, in its first discharge of underage recruits this year.
Conflict Lead Story Military News
Burma today discharged 53 underage recruits from its armed forces, but several observers urged a more concrete approach and an end to the practise.
Conflict Lead Story News Politics
Fifty officers are among those who have had action taken against them for recruiting child soldiers, according to the Deputy Home Affairs Minister.
Analysis Lead Story News Peace Process
As the latest group of child soldiers are released from Burma’s military, challenges still exist for those at-risk in the face of the country’s much lauded reforms.
A ceremony was held in Rangoon on Monday for 80 underage soldiers who have been released from duty in the Burmese army and allowed to go home.
President Barack Obama has maintained Burma on the US sanctions list under the Child Soldier Prevention Act (CSPA). The continuity of the sanction, announced on Tuesday, prevents US military assistance[…]
Human Rights Lead Story News Video
The Burmese military released a further one hundred and nine child soldiers on Thursday.
A full two years after the Burmese government pledged to release all children from military service, many young victims of underage recruitment remain trapped in the army’s ranks.
Ninety-one persons under the age of 18 were released on Friday from Burma’s armed forces, but an analysts says the military’s recruitment policy is largely unchanged.
DVB Debate Lead Story News Politics Video
In the first of a two-part special on war crimes, DVB Debate discusses the military’s use of child soldiers.
The Burmese army freed 96 child soldiers on Saturday, in the fifth such discharge since the Burmese government signed onto a 2012 UN Joint Action Plan to eliminate all minors[…]
Analysis Contributor Lead Story News
Children who escape from the Burmese army continue to be detained and treated as adult deserters; and accountability measures have so far failed to deter ongoing underage recruitment despite the fact that it is against the law.
Despite the government signing the joint action plan children continue to be recruited into the Burmese army, according to Child Soldiers International.
Despite signing an action plan with the UN last year and releasing dozens of child soldiers from time to time, as the Tatmadaw did yesterday, experts assert that the military continues to recruit and use children in its armed forces
While the Burmese government has agreed to end the recruitment of child soldiers, effective safeguards to prevent future recruitment have not been implemented
