WASHINGTON — The United States on Friday sought immediate consular access to American national Kyaw Zaw Lwin (aka Nyi Nyi Aung), who is currently on a hunger strike in a Burmese prison and whose health is reported to be deteriorating.
“We have heard reports that Kyaw Zaw Lwin has been on a hunger strike since Dec. 4. We are pressing for immediate consular access to him,” US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told The Irrawaddy.
“We understand that Kyaw Zaw Lwin’s Dec. 11 court hearing was postponed. No new date has been announced. Burmese authorities said that the postponement was due to concerns about his health,” Kelly added.
The US Embassy in Rangoon has been granted consular access to Kyaw Zaw Lwin six times since his arrest on Sept. 3, most recently on Dec. 3. In addition to this, US consular officers have been present at all eight of his court hearings.
Meanwhile, US Sen. James Webb, who traveled to Burma earlier this year to secure the release of another US citizen imprisoned by the Burmese junta, urged the regime to grant Kyaw Zaw Lwin all rights guaranteed under international law.
Webb expressed concern about news reports that Kyaw Zaw Lwin had been mistreated during his detainment and that he is being denied regular access to US consular visits.
Webb, who in August became the first US senator to visit Burma in more than a decade, asked the US State Department to provide him with updates on the status of Kyaw Zaw Lwin's case.
“In the interim, I urge the government in Burma to afford Kyaw Zaw Lwin all the rights guaranteed under international law,” said Webb, who serves as chairman of the East Asia and Pacific Affairs subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
“I also trust that the government will allow him the same access to US Embassy personnel that American citizen John Yettaw, whom I escorted out of the country in August, received during his detainment and trial earlier this year,” Webb said.
On Friday, Kyaw Zaw Lwin’s Washington-based international counsel, Beth Schwanke, said that she was “extremely concerned” about the “seriously deteriorating” condition of his health.
“We are gravely concerned for [Kyaw Zaw Lwin's] health and welfare,” said Jared Genser, president of Freedom Now, an advocacy organization for political prisoners. “The Burmese junta must provide the US Embassy with immediate access . . . And we call on the United States government to do everything possible to persuade the junta to provide this access.”
A well-known democracy activist, Kyaw Zaw Lwin was arrested by the Burmese authorities on Sept. 3 while entering the country in an attempt to visit his mother, also an imprisoned democracy activist, who has cancer.
Initially accused of national security violations, he is now accused of using a forged Burmese national identity card, despite being the holder of an American passport. He is also accused of failing to declare currency at customs, although he was arrested before entering customs, Freedom Now said.
Freedom Now said he is currently on trial for these violations and is being detained in Burma’s notorious Insein prison.
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