US Congressmen Urge Release of Activist

WASHINGTON — In a unprecedented move, 53 US congressmen have written a letter to Burmese junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe urging the release of Kyaw Zaw Lwin (aka Nyi Nyi Aung), a Burma-born US citizen who has been on a hunger strike in a Burmese prison since Dec. 4.

“We urge you in the strongest possible terms to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Aung and allow him to return to the United States,” the congressmen said in a letter to Than Shwe. The letter was sent to the military strongman through the Burmese embassy in Washington.

“Based on information relayed by the US embassy in Rangoon, it appears that Mr. Aung’s detention and trial is inconsistent with both Burmese and international law,” said the congressmen led by Howard Berman, chairman of the powerful House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The letter, dated Dec. 17, was signed by congressmen from both the Democratic and Republican parties.

Among the signatories to the letter are Congressman Frank Wolf, co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Right Commission; House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer; Assistant to the Speaker Chris Van Hollen; and Dan Rohrabacher, ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight.

Kyaw Zaw Lwin, a democracy activist, was arrested by the Burmese authorities on Sept. 3 at Rangoon's international airport. Washington-based Freedom Now said he was attempting to visit his mother, an imprisoned democracy activist who has cancer. He was accused of using a forged Burmese identity card and illegally importing currencies into the country, Freedom Now said in a statement.

Referring to the charges against Kyaw Zaw Lwin that have appeared in the state-run newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar, the congressmen said: “We can only conclude that the new charges are pretextual and are in fact a direct result of Mr. Aung’s longstanding non-violent activities in support of freedom and democracy in Burma.”

The congressmen also said that the Burmese authorities denied him consular access for 17 days, in violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, to which Burma is a party.

The letter also accused the government authorities of torturing Kyaw Zaw Lwin, saying he was  deprived of food and sleep for more than a week, beaten and denied medical treatment. He was also denied his right under Burmese law to regular access to counsel and a public trial, the letter said.

State Department Deputy Spokesman Robert Wood said the US embassy in Rangoon has not been able to get consular access since Dec. 4, when Kyaw Zaw Lwin went on a hunger strike.

“On Friday, Dec. 11, we heard the distressing news that Mr. Aung’s trial was canceled due to unexplained 'health reasons,' and that the US embassy has been denied access to see him. As you know, Mr. Aung has been on a hunger strike to protest the conditions of political prisoners in Burma since Dec. 4, and there are reports that his health is seriously deteriorating,” the letter said.

“The detention of an American citizen under these circumstances has caused alarm among many members of the United States Congress, and raises serious doubts about your government’s willingness to improve relations with the United States,” the congressmen said.

The US lawmakers said they believe that the way to move forward was to release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and begin a process of genuine political reconciliation before next year’s election.

Welcoming the letter, Freedom Now President Jared Genser said he hopes this important intervention “will make clear to the Burmese junta that the United States will first look to the treatment of one of its own citizens in assessing the junta’s willingness to engage in dialogue.”