Jailed US Citizen in Confinement

WASHINGTON — Kyaw Zaw Lwin, a US citizen of Burmese origin who was arrested on arrival at the Rangoon airport in September, has been kept in a “military dog confinement” in Insein Prison and looks “extremely weak,” according to reports.

However, Kyaw Zaw Lwin, aka Nyi Nyi Aung, is reported to have broken his hunger strike, which he started on Dec. 3.

“We have learned that Nyi Nyi Aung has been kept in solitary confinement since at least Dec.7,” Lwin’s Washington-based international counsel, Beth Schwanke, told The Irrawaddy. The information is based on multiple-sources from both inside and outside Burma, she said.

“During these past 15 days, he has been kept in an 8 x 10 cell in what is called a 'military dog confinement'," she said.

“From what we understand, the military dog confinement cells do not have bathrooms and prisoners are required to go to the bathroom on trays,” Schwanke said.

“His health has been weakened by torture, horrifying prison conditions and his hunger strike. It is clear that military dog confinement of Nyi Nyi Aung violates the international law prohibition against cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment,” she said.

Schwanke said Lwin's court hearing was postponed on Dec. 11. The US Mission in Rangoon still has not had any consular access.

A well-known democracy activist, Kyaw Zaw Lwin was arrested by the Burmese authorities on Sept. 3.  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.

Last week as many as 53 US Congress members wrote a letter to Snr-Gen Than Shwe urging Lwin's release. “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 letter said. “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.”

Sen. Jim Webb, who traveled to Burma earlier this year and secured the release of another US citizen imprisoned by the Burmese junta, also urged the regime to grant Lwin all rights guaranteed under international law. Webb in a statement last week expressed concern about news reports that  Lwin had been mistreated during his detainment and that he is being denied regular access to US consular visits.