THE Burmese (Myanmar) government must hold to account those responsible for the fatal shooting of a prominent Muslim lawyer and human rights advocate, Fortify Rights said Monday.
The proclamation by the international rights group came in the wake of the death of U Ko Ni, who was gunned down at close range in what appeared to be an execution-style killing. U Nay Win, a taxi driver was also shot in the incident and later died of his injuries.
Matthew Smith, chief executive officer of Fortify Rights, said the group was shocked and “deeply saddened by this heinous act.”
“The authorities should do everything in their power to ensure accountability and bring those responsible to justice,” he said in the statement.
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U Ko Ni, 65, died on the spot after a gunman shot him at point-blank range outside Yangon International Airport at about 4:30 pm on Jan 29. U Nay Win, 42, attempted to apprehend the assailant, but was fatally shot in the process.
The Burmese police arrested the gunman at the scene. Authorities said 53-year-old suspect is a Burmese national and the motive of the murder remains unknown.
The apparent assassination comes amid heightened tensions in Buddhist-majority Burma, according to Reuters. The country’s State Counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi, is under pressure over a heavy-handed security operation in an area of the country’s northwest that is populated mostly by Muslims.
Smith said U Ko Ni was one of Burma’s most prominent Muslim lawyers and a distinguished legal advocate for human rights.
In recent years, his work focused on improving Burma’s justice system and bringing laws in line with human rights standards.
As detailed in the Fortify Rights statement, “U Ko Ni was instrumental in facilitating the repeal the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act and amendments to provisions of the 2012 Ward or Village Tract Administration Law—two laws long used by the authorities to target human rights defenders and minorities.”
Ko Ni, a prominent member of Myanmar’s Muslim minority and legal adviser for Burma’s ruling National League for Democracy, is seen during an interview in Yangon Jan 13, 2016. Picture taken Jan 13, 2016. Ko ni was shot dead outside the Yangon International Airport on Jan 29, 2017. Pic: AP
In March 2015, the lawyer joined Fortify Rights to launch a report in Yangon documenting how the guest-registration requirement under the 2012 Ward or Village Tract Administration Law impinged on human rights to privacy and freedoms of movement, residency, and association.
Having received his Bachelor of Laws degree from Yangon University of Arts and Sciences in 1976, U Ko Ni became a lecturer in the university’s Department of Law and later founded the Laurel Law Firm in 1995. Following by-elections in 2012, he began working as a legal advisor to Suu Kyi and the now ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party.
U Ko Ni, Smith said, is also a founder of the newly established Burmese Muslim Lawyers Association.
“His expertise in constitutional law and commitment to promoting human rights in Myanmar won him the esteem of lawyers, activists, and politicians alike,” Smith said.
SEE ALSO: Burma: UN Rights official warns of likely retaliation against some in Rakhine State
Despite widespread respect for his work, U Ko Ni faced harassment and intimidation from political and religious hardliners in Burma.
“I am a targeted person,” U Ko Ni told Fortify Rights in 2015.
“It is because I am a legal advisor to Aung San Suu Kyi and to the NLD. And I am a central committee member of the Constitutional Reform Committee.”
On Monday, enormous crowds assembled for U Ko Ni’s funeral at Yay Way Cemetery in Yangon. Attendees included Buddhists, Muslims, politicians, and civil society groups, as well as family and friends of the lawyer.
Fortify Rights expressed its deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims.
“U Ko Ni was a brilliant and courageous man who dedicated his life to making Burma a more rights-respecting country,” Smith said. “This is an enormous loss for all the people of Burma and to the entire human rights movement.”
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