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Letter of Appeal from the AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility

December 5, 2000


Senior General Than Shwa
Chairman
State Peace and Development Council
c/o Director of Defense Services Intelligence (DDSI)
Ministry of Defense
Signal Pagoda Road
Dagon Post Office
Yangon
Union of Myanmar
Fax: 011 95 1 229 50


Dear General:

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the largest organization of natural and social scientists in the United States, and the world's largest federation of scientific organizations, with 145,000 individual members and 300 affiliated groups. Our AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility was formed in 1976 to protect the human rights of scientists and to deal with issues relating to scientific freedom worldwide.

On behalf of the Committee, I am writing to express my concern about several human rights cases in Myanmar, including those of Daw May Win Myint, Daw San San, Daw Shwe Bo, and Ma Khin Khin Leh.

It is the Committee's understanding that Daw May Win Myint and Daw San San were arrested on 28 October 1997 with other prominent National League of Democracy (NLD) members after attempting to hold a meeting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the Mayangone Township. We have been informed that the meeting was held to discuss restructuring the local branch of the NLD youth party. We are concerned that Daw May Win Myint and Daw San San were arrested for the peaceful exercise of their freedom of expression and association. We urge authorities in the government to immediately and unconditionally release them.

I am also writing to express concern about Daw Shwe Bo and Ma Khin Khin Leh, who were arrested in July 1999, along with 19 other people in Pegu. Authorities reportedly detained Daw Shwe Bo and Ma Khin Khin Leh on suspicion that they were planning a peaceful pro-democracy march. On 3 December 1999, a Special Court sentenced Daw Shwe Bo and Ma Khin Khin Leh to life imprisonment under the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act and the 1908 Unlawful Associations Act.

It is the Committee's understanding that in January 2000, Daw Shwe Bo and Ma Khin Khin Leh were transferred to an unknown location. We respectfully request that their location be made known to their families. The committee believes that Daw Shwe Bo and Ma Khin Khin Leh are being held for the peaceful exercise of their freedom of expression and association. We urge authorities in the government to immediately and unconditionally release them.

The continuing detention of Daw May Win Myint, Daw San San, Daw Shwe Bo, and Ma Khin Khin Leh solely for the peaceful exercise of their freedom of opinion and association constitutes a serious violation of international human rights standards enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They include the following:
· Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
· Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
· Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
· Article 10: Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
· Article 19: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
· Article 20: (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
· Article 21: (1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

We urge you to exercise your good offices to assure that Daw May Win Myint, Daw San San, Daw Shwe Bo, Ma Khin Khin Leh, and others imprisoned solely for their peaceful exercise of their freedom of opinion and association be released immediately and unconditionally. We would welcome receiving any information concerning the status of these four women.

We thank you for your attention to our concerns.


Sincerely,

Irving A. Lerch
Chair
AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility

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