Burma Political Prisoners Assistance Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2327 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations AN ACT To direct the Secretary of State to provide assistance to civil society organizations in Burma that work to secure the release of prisoners of conscience and political pris- oners in Burma, and assistance to current and former prisoners of conscience and political prisoners in Burma, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2327.RFS H2327 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 HR 2327 RFS Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Burma Political Pris- 4 oners Assistance Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 (1) Aung San Suu Kyi and the National 8 League for Democracy (NLD) pledged that they 9 ‘‘would not arrest anyone as political prisoners’’, but 10 have failed to fulfill this promise since they took con- 11 trol of Burma’s Union Parliament and the Govern- 12 ment’s executive branch in April 2016. 13 (2) As of the end of April 2019, there were 331 14 political prisoners in Burma, 48 of them serving sen- 15 tences, 90 awaiting trial inside prison, and 193 16 awaiting trial outside prison, according to the Assist- 17 ance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma. 18 (3) During its 3 years in power, the NLD Gov- 19 ernment has provided pardons for Burma’s political 20 prisoners on six occasions. State Counsellor Aung 21 San Suu Kyi took steps to secure the release of 22 nearly 235 political prisoners in April 2016. On May 23 23, 2017, former President Htin Kyaw granted par- 24 dons to 259 prisoners, including 89 political pris- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2327.RFS H2327 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 HR 2327 RFS oners. On April 17, 2018, current President Win 1 Myint pardoned 8,541 prisoners, including 36 polit- 2 ical prisoners. In April and May 2019, he pardoned 3 more than 23,000 prisoners, including 20 political 4 prisoners. 5 (4) The Burmese security forces have used colo- 6 nial-era laws to arrest and charge political prisoners 7 and prisoners of conscience. These laws include but 8 are not limited to provisions of the Penal Code, the 9 Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Act, the 10 1908 Unlawful Associations Act, the 2013 Tele- 11 communications Act, and the 1923 Official Secrets 12 Act. 13 (5) On December 12, 2017, Reuters reporters 14 Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested and 15 charged with violating the Official Secrets Act, con- 16 tinuing a trend of restricting media and free speech 17 and attempting to thwart coverage of the events in 18 Rakhine State. 19 (6) On September 3, 2018, Wa Lone and Kyaw 20 Soe Oo were convicted and sentenced to 7 years in 21 prison. Time Magazine included pictures of the two 22 reporters on the cover of its ‘‘Person of the Year’’ 23 issue on December 10, 2018, as two of the ‘‘Guard- 24 ians and the War on Truth’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2327.RFS H2327 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 HR 2327 RFS (7) On May 6, 2019, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe 1 Oo were released after more than 500 days behind 2 bars. 3 (8) According to Burmese free speech organiza- 4 tion Athan, 44 journalists and 142 activists since 5 2016 were charged with colonial-era laws used to sti- 6 fle dissent and restrict activist groups and have 7 faced trial. 8 (9) Since December 2018, three Kachin activ- 9 ists were sentenced to 6 months in prison in connec- 10 tion with peaceful antiwar protests; a protester dem- 11 onstrating against the Myitsone Dam (a controver- 12 sial Chinese-backed hydropower project) was charged 13 for peaceful demonstrations, and police used exces- 14 sive force to crack down on peaceful protesters in 15 Kayah State, with some of the demonstrators 16 charged under vaguely worded, repressive laws. 17 (10) On August 18, 2017, Aung Ko Htwe was 18 arrested because he gave a media interview in which 19 he described his experience as a child soldier, includ- 20 ing how the Burmese military abducted and forcibly 21 recruited him when he was 13 years old. He was 22 charged under Section 505(b) of Burma’s Penal 23 Code. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2327.RFS H2327 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 HR 2327 RFS (11) Although former Secretary of State Rex 1 Tillerson took Burma off the State Department’s list 2 of the worst offenders in the use of child soldiers in 3 2017, the Department reinstated Burma to the list 4 in 2018. According to the United Nations, the Bur- 5 mese military and ethnic guerrilla groups remain 6 ‘‘persistent perpetrators’ in the recruitment and use 7 of children in [Burma].’’. 8 SEC. 3. CHILD SOLDIERS. 9 It is the sense of Congress that no one should be 10 jailed for freely expressing him or herself or for speaking 11 against the use of child soldiers. 12 SEC. 4. PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY. 13 It is the sense of Congress that Burma must imme- 14 diately drop defamation charges against the three Kachin 15 activists, Lum Zawng, Nang Pu, and Zau Jet, who led 16 a peaceful rally in Mytkyina, the capital of Kachin State 17 in April 2018, and that the prosecution of Lum Zawng, 18 Nang Pu, and Zau Jet is an attempt by the Burmese au- 19 thorities to intimidate, harass, and silence community 20 leaders and human rights defenders who speak out about 21 military abuses and the impact on civilian populations. 22 SEC. 5. PRESS FREEDOM. 23 It is the sense of Congress that press freedom is a 24 fundamental human right and should be upheld and pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2327.RFS H2327 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 HR 2327 RFS tected in Burma and everywhere, and that Burmese au- 1 thorities must immediately cease the arbitrary arrest, de- 2 tention, imprisonment, and physical attacks of journalists, 3 which have created a climate of fear and self-censorship 4 among local journalists. 5 SEC. 6. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 6 It is the policy of the United States that— 7 (1) all prisoners of conscience and political pris- 8 oners in Burma should be unconditionally and im- 9 mediately released; 10 (2) the Administration and the Department of 11 State should use all of their diplomatic tools to en- 12 sure that all prisoners of conscience and political 13 prisoners in Burma are released; and 14 (3) the Burmese Government should repeal or 15 amend all laws that violate the rights to freedom of 16 expression, peaceful assembly, or association, and 17 ensure that laws such as the Telecommunications 18 Law of 2013 and the Unlawful Associations Act of 19 1908, and laws relating to the right to peaceful as- 20 sembly, all comply with international human rights 21 standards. 22 SEC. 7. POLITICAL PRISONERS ASSISTANCE. 23 The Secretary of State shall continue to provide as- 24 sistance to civil society organizations in Burma that work 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2327.RFS H2327 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 HR 2327 RFS to secure the release of prisoners of conscience and polit- 1 ical prisoners in Burma, and assistance to current and 2 former prisoners of conscience and political prisoners in 3 Burma. Such assistance may include the following: 4 (1) Support for the documentation of human 5 rights violations with respect to prisoners of con- 6 science and political prisoners. 7 (2) Support for advocacy in Burma to raise 8 awareness of issues relating to prisoners of con- 9 science and political prisoners. 10 (3) Support for efforts to repeal or amend laws 11 that are used to imprison individuals as either pris- 12 oners of conscience or political prisoners. 13 (4) Support for health, including mental health, 14 and post-incarceration assistance in gaining access 15 to education and employment opportunities or other 16 forms of reparation to enable former prisoners of 17 conscience and political prisoners to resume a nor- 18 mal life. 19 (5) The creation, in consultation with former 20 political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, their 21 families, and representatives, of an independent pris- 22 oner review mechanism in Burma to review the cases 23 of individuals who may have been charged or de- 24 prived of their liberty for peacefully exercising their 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2327.RFS H2327 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 HR 2327 RFS human rights, review all laws used to arrest, pros- 1 ecute, and punish individuals as political prisoners 2 and prisoners of conscience, and provide rec- 3 ommendations to the Burmese Government for the 4 repeal or amendment of all such laws. 5 Passed the House of Representatives September 24, 2019. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2327.RFS H2327 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS