RAN Appeal #5: May 22, 2009
MYANMAR: Aung San Suu Kyi taken to prison
BACKGROUND:
According to PEN Canada’s information, Aung San Suu Kyi was taken from her home, where she was being held under house arrest, to the notorious Insein Prison in Yangon early on the morning of May 14, 2009. Suu Kyi and two members of her house staff have been detained under Section 22 of the State Protection Law for “subversion”, following an incident in which a US citizen reportedly swam across the lake to her home and in doing so violated the ban on her meeting with anyone without prior permission.
Suu Kyi is currently on trial and could face up to five years in prison if found guilty.
Background
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of Burma’s independence hero General Aung San, became leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in September 1988, and in 1991 led the NLD to a landslide election victory which has never been recognised by the military government. Prior to this she lived in the UK for many years, where she raised two sons with her late husband British academic Michael Aris, who died in March 1999 of cancer. Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the past 20 years in detention in Yangon, much of it in solitary confinement. She was held under de facto house arrest for six years from July 1989-July 1995, and again from September 2000 until May 2002, when she was released as part of UN-brokered confidential talks between the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and the NLD which began in October 2000. Her most recent detention began when she was taken into “protective custody” following violent clashes between her supporters and those of the government on 30 May 2003, and she has since been held under renewable one-year detention orders.
Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 1991. She is the author of many books, including Freedom From Fear (1991), Letters from Burma (1997), The Voice of Hope (1997).
Useful information:
Suu Kyi Supporters Condemn “unfair” Arrest
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/17001/
Canadians protest Aung San Suu Kyi trial
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iLvZqQsjPhW2m6FpIhzcX047a-5g
Canada renews calls for Aung San Suu Kyi release
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hpG-EUIkbGWsJ5V4AyIfZso2d0SA
Trial of Burma 's pro-democracy leader begins
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/05/18/suu-kyi-trial-burma337.html
Canada Deeply Concerned Over New Charges Against Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi
http://w01.international.gc.ca/minpub/publication.aspx?publication_id=387166&lang=eng&docnum=131
Statement from Michael Ignatieff
http://www.liberal.ca/story_15847_e.aspx
PFOB calls on ASEAN for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi
http://www.cfob.org/news/PFOBCallsForReleaseofSuuKyi.html
CFOB Condemns Suu Kyi's Transfer to Insein, Protest planned in Ottawa
http://www.cfob.org/news/CondemnSuuKyiTransfer.html
The BBC's country profile of Myanmar :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1300003.stm
Appeal letter:
May 22, 2009
Dear General:
As a member of PEN Canada, a literary and human rights organization affiliated to International PEN, I am writing to share my concerns over the recent detention of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on charges of subversion. According to PEN’s information, on the morning of May 14, 2009 Daw Suu was moved from her home in Yangon to Insein Prison where she is currently being held under Section 22 of the State Protection Law. Her arrest follows an incident in which a US citizen reportedly swam across Inya lake to her home, violating a ban on her meeting anyone without prior permission.
PEN Canada fears that Daw Suu will receive a show trial so that, yet again, the government of Myanmar can restrict her right to free expression. We are further concerned by reports that local journalists have not been permitted to report freely on the circumstances in which the American John Yettaw intruded into Daw Suu’s private residence. We are shocked that after intimidating her with arbitrary arrests and detentions for 13 of the last 20 years, the government of Myanmar has decided to exploit this incident in order to prolong its mistreatment of Daw Suu. We call for her immediate release and renew our call for the release of hundreds of other prisoners whose only crime has been the peaceful expression of their views.
Prominent among those unfairly imprisoned in Myanmar are the comedian and poet Maung Thura, better known as Zargana, who has been denied prison visits and the specialist medical care he requires, and the student activist and writer, Ko Aung Tun who has been kept in solitary confinment and is said to be suffering from severe asthma and tuberculosis.
General Than Shwe, in your speech on Armed Services Day, last month in Naypyitaw, you said, “Democracy in Myanmar today is at a fledgling stage and still requires patient care and attention” In light of that statement, I urge you to drop the current charges against Aung San Suu Kyi and to bring to an end your government’s long record of intimidating and jailing its political opponents.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]
Appeals to:
Ye Gyaw Mra
First Secretary
Embassy of the Union of Myanmar
85 Range Road, Suite 902 - 903
Sandringham Building
Ottawa, ON K1N 8J6
U Than Swe
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Permanent Representative of the Union of Myanmar to the United Nations
10 East 77th Street
New York, N.Y. 10075
USA
