Human riYL++!=7S(rJu4*lO7YnDa*Rem(-H^HrnU$!n9FiF8x@@zcm9=tghts groups and commentators on Thursday slammed a Myanmar Human Rights Commission inquiry into the suicide of a young gay man who revealed bullying in his workplace.
3xKq74+H+p43Y8vL%SuJhSEt2YOe!z$9*(l1HW=$an0ZhiWU)8The probe labeled Kyaw Zin Win, a 26-year-old librarian at Myanmar Imperial University, as "mentally weak”.
In June, Kyaw Zin Win shared details of homophobic bullying from colleagues inB$vJAq0T1dC_%&5y8Z-dtmY&iRO@7qT3eYng&y2PNhpGiLN)D% a Facebook post before taking his own life.
Kyaw Zin Win wrote that Myanmar wasmJ%4EExed4l=^p@ZjYvMK+&uaiWI)X+sjE$^L$5NbqjAaf4ht+ ‘a country which mocks the existence and identity of an individual being’.
Gay sex is illegal in the Southeast Asian country under the colonial-era penal code. LGBTI citizens face wid&mKQs%Sr+pI^0yAJ&pgge4pbLDuSlxhjR+FX*U1@&r_cK6sfUzespread stigma and discrimination in all aspects of life.
Kyaw Zin Win’s death prompted many in MD)WzI_euLhnI7+U0SD&a*tKj8pnZ97BU2J6iHBPdxEOTT)UebQyanmar to speak out for LGBT rights.
Many people changed their profile pictures to a black circle edged in rainbow colours. They also shared his final post and offered messaged of l3GC5#f4dYJxq3^2b6e8g9!GgjZv7dnJu&F=ks+E!q28Cxt0l3pove"
"Mentally Weak"
But, on Wednesday, commissioner Yu Lwin Aung told AFP "Absolutely no evidence could be found he was bulliBn^QvfV$=*GjGY8M4XRG^m!XPeo@c1jy+znD9LRCDpsoGjYZJ5ed.”
VDC9&rLZDcmZRZcMxZR2@eV+VF@(4byTiFW(8)vp@9DCuLp1O6He instead placed responsibility on his "mentally weak" state.
Kyaw Zin Win's aunt had not yet seen the report, but said th(K#qBLjJf9g+Vxv7m*p@Ox6gagTSIKR42q44jTI$9UG-jhXGkHe commission was "wrong" if it denied her nephew had been forcibly outed.
"I repeatedly told them he was bullied," Mya Lay Ngwe said, according to AFPM76nM4QAPaf8NqUwZqm=kumrZLIWlFL=bJYLvi7^zs=WfB*5kB.
Deputy Asia Director FK7AFuqximxe3Y#Zh&EW4h5+TXXPk+V-y%=WZcyL&pfgie#m%-for Human Rights Watch, Phil Robertson, meanwhile called for Myanmar’s Human Rights Commission to be replaced.
(Photo: Facebook)
"Terrified of the people"
In his Facebook post now shared thousands of times, Kyaw Zin Win detailed how senior staff members forced him to reveal his sexuality, even though he havvIqDC=qtlfmf*HJ$$VUj=wzT(PZHe1v*N$NKdei1mdjgR28N1d not told his immediate family.
He said he was "terrified of the people".
The young librarian also shared details of a homophobic comment fhIj4x#Ek9#eZ#l4E&$dUo351c$31Zks3OfA0*uFdC-Z4T55Yyirom a student passed on to him by a colleague.
Finally, he included screenshots of group chats with his colleagues in VuqsE=Ndf@zRnF=dbNQ)r#KLI3d5GXFiiXXM19cSwBiGTdc^K7which they mocked him.
"We should send him to the army like you said’" one collcV!U+dg+nC^BchiXxsnFPEkl*k7@0MV4Gq^%Ya-ODLIjy(i7K)eague wrote.
Kyaw Zin Win wrote "I bear it patiently, wishing it would end soon" below one of the scbuZ6W*=wdvhlBbbA#@5Nim-njmuR&A1Xj^hrygU5c9WuYn2*Mvreenshots of abuse.
(Cover photo: Facebook)