This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available. C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000384 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS; PACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/20/2016 
TAGS:        
SUBJECT: FORMER POLITICAL PRISONER DIES IN BRUTAL ATTACK 
 
Classified By: Poloff Dean Tidwell for Reasons 1.4 (b, d) 
 
 1. (C) SUMMARY: A former political prisoner and student 
activist during the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, Thet Naing 
Oo, died on March 17 following a public beating by police and 
fire brigade officers.  His family placed a death 
announcement in local newspapers and on March 20 held a 
funeral attended by over 1,000 mourners, including members of 
the political opposition.  At a funeral earlier on the same 
day for a recently deceased NLD MP-elect, an unstable person 
with connections to the regime attempted, without success, to 
assault former student leader and political prisoner Min Ko 
Naing.  The recent increase in threats and violent action 
against political opponents portents ominous developments. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
 2. (SBU) Local police officers beat up former political 
prisoner Thet Naing Oo on March 17, claiming he was guilty of 
"public indecency," after he left his friends at a Rangoon 
teashop and urinated on a nearby corner, apparently on 
municipal property.  Thet Naing Oo, who served four years in 
prison for his role as a student activist during the 1988 
pro-democracy uprising and other political activities, became 
angry over the beating and returned to the scene with a 
knife. 
 
 3. (C) According to eyewitnesses and opposition party 
members, police officers and members of a local city fire 
brigade removed their uniforms and beat Thet Naing Oo 
severely in public view before detaining him and removing him 
from the scene.  He died the next morning, following 
emergency surgery in the neurological unit of Yangon General 
Hospital.  Embassy officers obtained photos from local 
activists, which indicate that Thet Naing Oo suffered massive 
head trauma.  Authorities reportedly arrested Thet Naing Oo's 
two friends for "obstructing government officials in the line 
of duty" and continue to detain them incommunicado. 
 
 4. (U) Thet Naing Oo's family posted his death notice in 
local newspapers on March 19, without reference to the 
beating, and held his funeral on March 20.  An estimated 
1,000 mourners, including members of the pro-democracy 
movement and former political prisoners, attended the 
funeral.  Former student activist leader and political 
prisoner Min Ko Naing, who attended the funeral, criticized 
the brutal attack and told international journalists that 
authorities have no right to beat citizens and should follow 
legal procedures if someone breaks the law. 
 
 5. (C) Thet Naing Oo's family has filed a complaint at a 
local police precinct and requested action against the 
officers for what the family has characterized as murder. 
According to NLD party officials, police officials have 
registered the complaint for possible follow-up. 
 
 6. (C) In a separate incident, Min Ko Naing attended a 
funeral earlier on March 20 for NLD MP-elect Dr. Thein Win, 
who recently died of cancer.  At the funeral, an unstable man 
attempted to punch Min Ko Naing and shouted that he was doing 
so on behalf of the NLD.  An elderly member of the "Veteran 
Politicians" chased off the would-be attacker with a walking 
cane.  The assailant fled in his car, but NLD party members 
identified him as the son of a regime-selected delegate to 
the National Convention.  The attacker did not injure Min Ko 
Naing, who later attended the Thet Naing Oo funeral without 
incident.  Police later questioned Min Ko Naing about the 
attempted assault. 
 
 7. (C) COMMENT: Although the GOB is notorious for its 
egregious abuse of detainees, public beatings have generally 
been rare.  According to NLD, however, the fatal beating of 
Thet Naing Oo is not an isolated incident.  In recent months, 
NLD members and opposition activists have suffered an 
increase in beatings and violent actions at the hands of 
authorities and GOB-backed organizations in Rangoon and in 
other parts of Burma.  NLD sources in Mandalay told us 
recently that members of the regime's mass member 
organization, the USDA, deliberately target them with 
motorcycles when they crossed the street.  The 
government-controlled press has reported plans to arm the 
USDA and fire departments in the interests of "public 
safety."  These ominous events could portend harsher action 
from government thugs unleashed against the political 
opposition.  END COMMENT. 
VILLAROSA