As a member of MDCF said: “At the moment we are not doing many activities because our leader (Htin Kyaw) is in prison and because we spend all our time attending our members’ court hearings or visiting them in prison and supporting them.”45 A member of the All Burma Federation of Students Unions (ABFSU), which has many members in detention or on bail facing politically motivated charges for student protests, also explained: “Having so many ABFSU members in prison has made us weaker and has made others afraid to join our organization… we know, if they [the authorities] want to arrest and charge us they will arrest the leaders… they target our leaders to weaken our movement.”46 In addition, such actions foster a climate of fear among other activists, who may curtail their activities or otherwise modify their behaviours in order to reduce their own risk of arrest. TARGETING MOVEMENTS Amnesty International believes that the authorities often target individuals for arrest solely as a result of their association, or perceived association, with particular activists, organizations or groups which are critical of the authorities; protesting against the government; or otherwise undertaking activities which the authorities do not like. This is particularly the case for individuals believed to be connected to the student protests against the National Education Law, enacted in September 2014 which they say curtails academic freedoms. 47 Protests started in Myanmar towards the end of 2014, and continued despite a violent police crackdown in Letpadan, Bago Region on 10 March 2015. The police arrested over 100 students during the crackdown, charging 81 of them with a package of Penal Code offences. In the days and weeks that followed, the authorities embarked on an apparently well-orchestrated campaign to punish all those perceived as connected with the protests. Scores of other student protesters, leaders and supporters were arrested, while human rights defenders and lawyers who expressed support for the student protests were subjected to surveillance, harassment and intimidation by intelligence agencies. 48 Many of the individuals arrested are currently in detention or on bail facing charges under the same package of Penal Code offences. The fact that the students had protested at different times and in different locations, at times even on different issues, did not seem to affect the charges they faced; the authorities continued to apply the same sections of the Penal Code. In some cases these charges have been supplemented with additional charges under the Peaceful Assembly Act. Amnesty International is concerned that those arrested have been targeted as a result of their participation in, or perceived association with, the student protests, and that this approach amounts to a form of collective punishment. Amnesty International interview with members of MDCF, Yangon, June 2015. Amnesty International interview with a member of the ABFSU, Yangon, June 2015. 47 Among the students’ demands are for the law to recognize the right for students and teachers to establish and operate unions, and to ensure legal recognition for these unions; to allow for education in ethnic languages; ensuring inclusive education for all children, including children with disabilities, and allowing individuals expelled from academic institutions for previous political activities to resume their studies. 48 Amnesty International, End clampdown on student protesters and supporter (Index: ASA 16/1511/2015), 23 April 2015. 45 46 NEW EXPRESSION MEETS OLD REPRESSION ENDING THE CYCLE OF POLITICAL ARRESTS AND IMPRISONMENT IN MYANMAR Amnesty International 22