AAPP has documented the arrests of 36 activists in Burma, including three monks. Those arrested include well-known individual activist and US citizen Kyaw Zaw Lwin also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, detained on 3 September on his arrival at Rangoon International Airport. He was taken to various different interrogation centres where he was kicked and beaten, deprived of food for seven days, and questioned throughout the night. His request for medical treatment for his injuries has so far been denied.Amnesty International (Sept 24)
Trusted sources have reported to Amnesty international that male activist Kyaw Zaw Lwin was tortured and suffered other ill-treatment whilst in detention in Insein Prison, Yangon, Myanmar’s main city. He was arrested in Yangon on 3 September. He has been denied medical treatment for the injuries he sustained from the torture he endured during interrogation. There are grave concerns about his health.Irrawady Sept. 25:
The torture and ill-treatment that Kyaw Zaw Lwin suffered in detention included beating and kicking. He was deprived of food for seven days and moved between different interrogation centres. He was not allowed to sleep at night and was kept awake during interrogation by the authorities. Details of the charges against him are not known.
The New Light of Myanmar, the state-backed newspaper, reported in detail on Thursday on Nyi Nyi Aung’s arrest. The report included photographs of Nyi Nyi Aung, explosives and a satellite phone he was alleged to have had in his possession. The story described underground activities allegedly undertaken by Nyi Nyi Aung and connections between dissidents inside and outside Burma.Amnesty International Press release Sept 26
Amnesty International: Sec. Clinton Needs to Act on Behalf of U.S. Citizen Arrested and Tortured in Burma.
"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should immediately take steps to stop the torture and ill-treatment of a U.S. citizen arrested in Burma,” said T. Kumar, Amnesty International USA advocacy director for international issues. “In addition to his injuries and lack of treatment, Kyaw Zaw Lwin has also been deprived food for seven days.”
Secretary Clinton announced yesterday that the United States will begin to engage with high-level Burmese leaders to bring democracy to the nation and the release of the opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, has been declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.
“This is the first test for the United States’ new policy of engagement,” said Kumar. “Amnesty International hopes that this new engagement also covers protecting human rights in Burma. If Secretary Clinton fails to act, there will be many questions about the United States’ latest strategy to end the oppression of the Burmese people
Jonathan Hulland, Huffington Post Sept. 29
As I write this, an American is being tortured in Burma. Yet little is being done by the United States to secure his release and few mainstream media outlets are covering his story. So why isn't more being done on Nyi Nyi Aung's behalf?
The last time I saw Nyi Nyi Aung (also known as Kyaw Zaw Lwin) was in June at an event in New York to commemorate the 64th birthday of Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Nyi Nyi Aung was dressed in a crisp white collarless button-down shirt and a Burmese plaid sarong -- since 1988 the recognizable uniform of Burma's student democracy activists. Born in Burma, Nyi Nyi Aung fled the country following his participation in 1988's democracy protests. Since 1994, he's lived in the U.S. as a resident of suburban Maryland.
For the more than three-weeks since he was arrested at the airport, Nyi Nyi Aung has been a prisoner of a foreign regime. Yet Nyi Nyi Aung's name and face have yet to be beamed out on the evening news, nor has the State Department made an official appeal on his behalf. The White House also hasn't done a thing despite the fact that President Obama's is bound by law to take up Nyi Nyi Aung's case if it appears that the imprisonment is wrongful (remember Bill Clinton's trip to North Korea and Senator Webb's trip to Burma earlier this year?). So why isn't there more outrage and action at this American's appalling treatment by a ruthless dictatorship? One answer is that America's recent flirtation with torture has inured it to the torture of Americans themselves, but I can't and don't want to believe this.
A more likely answer lies with the U.S.'s recent decision to rethink its foreign policy on Burma. The tough "stick" sanctions policy, which has prevailed in Washington for over a decade and admittedly hasn't brought Burma closer to democracy, seems to be quickly giving way to a softer "carrots" engagement policy despite the regime's brutal response to the 2007 democracy protests and its pitiful failure to act after Cyclone Nargis ravaged Burma last year. This policy realignment kicked off last week in Washington, D.C. with a meeting between the State Department and Burma's foreign minister. Major General Nyan Win's visit to the capital was the first by a Burmese foreign minister in nine years because of a visa ban that had kept high-level members of the military junta from traveling in the U.S. The visa ban is law, but that didn't stop the Obama administration from waiving the ban -- no doubt the first of many controversial carrots to come.
For more about the meetings with Burma, see my previous post, "US to meet with Burma" For analysis of this issue, see "As US-Myanmar meeting begins, Burma tortures an American citizen."
____
Hat-tip: KyiMayKaung
0 comments:
Post a Comment