Relatives of Missing HIV Activist Threaten to Sue Authorities
By Shah Paung
June 21, 2007
Relatives of an HIV/AIDS activist who was arrested by Burmese authorities last month say they will file a missing person's case and sue the authorities if information about her status is not forthcoming. Phyu Phyu Thin, a National League for Democracy youth member and a leader in the group's HIV/AIDS section, was arrested one month ago on Thursday. Authorities have provided no information about her arrest or where she is detained. Yarzar, one of her colleagues, said, “We don't know whether she is healthy or alive so we are turning to legal resources to try to find her.” Phyu Phyu Thin was arrested on May 21. She had been working to help HIV/AIDS patients through education, counseling, housing and arranging for medical care such as providing medicine for HIV/AIDS patients. Family members of Phyu Phyu Thin said authorities from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Police Special Branch took her from her home, according to Yarzar. Khin Cho Oo, a HIV/AIDS woman patient of Phyu Phyu Thin, said she traveled from Ye Township in Mon State to Rangoon because she was worried about Phyu Phyu Thin. “I didn't come here for medical treatment, but because I heard Phyu Phyu Thin was arrested,” Khin Cho Oo said. “Phyu Phyu Thin is very much needed to take care of her HIV/AIDS patients.” Since 2002, Phyu Phyu Thin has worked with hundreds of HIV/AIDS patients, Yarzar said. Currently, her youth group gives aid to about 30 HIV/AIDS patients who do not receive medicines from Weibargi, the Rangoon Infectious Diseases Hospital, or the AZG clinic of the Dutch branch of the French-based Medicines sans Frontiers. Some of the 30 HIV/AIDS patients live in Rangoon while others live outside the city. Currently, more than 200 HIV/AIDS patients receive anti-retroviral treatment from AZG, while about seven receive treatment from Weibargi, according to Yarzar. “We are now faced with more difficulties because Phyu Phyu Thin is not with us, and she was quite well-known," Yarzar said. "Many people loved her and gave donations to her."
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