Burma Political Prisoners Assistance Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2069 To assist prisoners of conscience in Burma, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 10, 2019 Mr. MARKEY (for himself and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To assist prisoners of conscience in Burma, and for other purposes. 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) The United States has been a longstanding 8 friend and partner of the people of Burma, and has 9 sought to promote their democratic aspirations. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2069.IS S2069 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2069 IS (2) Despite a campaign pledge that Aung San 1 Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy 2 (NLD) ‘‘would not arrest anyone as political pris- 3 oners,’’ they have failed to fulfill this promise since 4 they took control of Burma’s Union Parliament and 5 the government’s executive branch in April 2016. 6 (3) As of March 1, 2019, there were 354 polit- 7 ical prisoners in Burma, 43 of them serving sen- 8 tences, 86 awaiting trial inside prison, and 225 9 awaiting trial outside prison according to the Assist- 10 ance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma. 11 (4) During its 3 years in power, the NLD gov- 12 ernment has provided pardons for Burma’s political 13 prisoners on three occasions. State Counsellor Aung 14 San Suu Kyi took steps to secure the release of 15 nearly 235 political prisoners. On May 23, 2017, 16 former President Htin Kyaw granted pardons to 259 17 prisoners, including 89 political prisoners. On April 18 17, 2018, current President Win Myint pardoned 19 8,541 prisoners, including 36 political prisoners. 20 (5) The Burmese security forces have histori- 21 cally and recently used a range of repressive laws to 22 arrest and prosecute political prisoners and pris- 23 oners of conscience. These laws include provisions of 24 the Penal Code, the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2069.IS S2069 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2069 IS Procession Act, the 1908 Unlawful Associations Act, 1 the 2013 Telecommunications Act, and the 1923 Of- 2 ficial Secrets Act. 3 (6) On January 5, 2015, then-President Thein 4 Sein announced the reconstitution of the ‘‘Scruti- 5 nizing Committee into the Prisoners of Conscience 6 Affairs Committee’’, which was to comprise 28 mem- 7 bers and which would ‘‘promptly [carry] out pris- 8 oners of conscience affairs at the grassroots level’’. 9 However, it appears that the Committee never even 10 met and no information has been made publicly 11 available regarding its mandate, procedures, or ac- 12 tivities. The lack of information and action appears 13 to justify concerns that the Committee had been re- 14 constituted merely to deflect growing national and 15 international criticism, rather than to resolve the 16 issue of remaining political prisoners. 17 (7) On December 12, 2017, Wa Lone and 18 Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters reporters covering the 19 crisis in Rakhine State, were entrapped, arrested, 20 and charged with violating the Official Secrets Act, 21 continuing a trend of restricting media and free 22 speech and attempting to thwart coverage of the 23 events in Rakhine State. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2069.IS S2069 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2069 IS (8) On September 3, 2018, Wa Lone and Kyaw 1 Soe Oo were convicted and sentenced to seven years 2 in prison. After 18 months in prison, they were re- 3 leased from prison. On May 28, 2018, Wa Lone and 4 Kyaw Soe Oo personally received the Pulitzer Prize 5 that was awarded to them while they were impris- 6 oned. 7 (9) According to Burma free-speech organiza- 8 tion Athan, 44 journalists and 142 activists have 9 faced trial since 2016, charged with repressive laws 10 used to stifle dissent at the same time restrictions 11 on activist groups are being tightened. In the first 12 three months of 2019, three Kachin activists were 13 each sentenced to six months in prison in connection 14 with peaceful anti-war protests, a protester against 15 the Myitsone dam (a controversial Chinese backed- 16 hydropower project) was charged for peaceful dem- 17 onstrations, and police used excessive force to crack- 18 down on peaceful protesters in Kayah State, with 19 some of the demonstrators charged under vaguely 20 worded, repressive laws. One of the activists, Nang 21 Pu, was released on April 1, 2019, on health 22 grounds. 23 (10) On August 18, 2017, Aung Ko Htwe was 24 arrested because he gave a media interview in which 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2069.IS S2069 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2069 IS he described his experience as a child soldier, includ- 1 ing how the military abducted and forcibly recruited 2 him when he was 13 years old. He was charged 3 under section 505(b) of Burma’s Penal Code. He 4 was subsequently sentenced to two years and six 5 months in prison. 6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act: 8 (1) PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE.—The term 9 ‘‘prisoner of conscience’’ means any person who— 10 (A) is imprisoned or otherwise physically 11 restricted solely for the peaceful exercise of his 12 or her human rights; and 13 (B) has not used violence or advocated vio- 14 lence or hatred. 15 (2) POLITICAL PRISONER.—The term ‘‘political 16 prisoner’’ applies to a person who has been detained 17 or imprisoned on politically motivated grounds. Po- 18 litical prisoners may have used or advocated violence 19 or hatred, or in some cases they may have com- 20 mitted some minor offense, which is a pretext for a 21 politically motivated imprisonment. 22 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 23 It is the policy of the United States— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2069.IS S2069 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2069 IS (1) to support Burma’s democratic transition to 1 a democratic, peaceful, and prosperous state; 2 (2) that prisoners of conscience and political 3 prisoners in Burma should be unconditionally and 4 immediately released and all charges or other pro- 5 ceedings against them should be abandoned; 6 (3) to use all diplomatic tools to ensure that all 7 prisoners of conscience and political prisoners in 8 Burma are released; and 9 (4) to support and pressure the Government of 10 Burma in the repeal and amendment of all laws that 11 violate the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful 12 assembly, and association to ensure the laws de- 13 scribed in section 2(5) comply with international 14 human rights standards. 15 SEC. 5. POLITICAL PRISONERS ASSISTANCE. 16 The Secretary of State shall provide assistance to 17 civil society organizations in Burma that work to secure 18 the release of prisoners of conscience and political pris- 19 oners in Burma, and to current and former prisoners of 20 conscience and political prisoners in Burma. Assistance 21 shall include the following activities: 22 (1) Support for the documentation of human 23 rights violations with respect to prisoners of con- 24 science and politically motivated prisoners. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2069.IS S2069 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2069 IS (2) Support for advocacy in Burma to raise 1 awareness of issues relating to prisoners of con- 2 science and political prisoners. 3 (3) Support for efforts to repeal or amend laws 4 that are used to imprison individuals as either pris- 5 oners of conscience or political prisoners. 6 (4) Support, including travel costs, and legal 7 fees, for families of prisoners of conscience and polit- 8 ical prisoners. 9 (5) Support for health, including mental health, 10 and post-incarceration assistance in gaining access 11 to education and employment opportunities or other 12 forms of reparation to enable former prisoners of 13 conscience and political prisoners to resume a nor- 14 mal life. 15 (6) The delegation of specific United States 16 mission staff who will observe trials in politically mo- 17 tivated cases. 18 SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON CHILD SOLDIERS. 19 It is the sense of Congress that— 20 (1) former child soldier Aung Ko Htwe should 21 be immediately and unconditionally released; and 22 (2) no one should be in jail for freely expressing 23 themselves nor for speaking against the military’s 24 atrocious use of child soldiers in any arena. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2069.IS S2069 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2069 IS SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY. 1 It is the sense of Congress that— 2 (1) the Government of Burma must imme- 3 diately drop defamation charges against Lum Zawng 4 and Zau Jet, two Kachin activists who led a peaceful 5 rally in Mytkyina, the capital of Kachin State, whose 6 crime is peacefully calling for humanitarian access to 7 thousands of displaced civilians and for an end to 8 the armed conflicts in northern Burma; and 9 (2) the prosecution of these activists is an at- 10 tempt by the Burmese authorities to intimidate, har- 11 ass, and silence community leaders and human 12 rights defenders who speak out about military 13 abuses and the impact of civilian populations. 14 SEC. 8. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON PRESS FREEDOM. 15 It is the sense of Congress that— 16 (1) the Government of Burma must take steps 17 to significantly improve the climate for journalists, 18 including ending the enforcement of draconian laws 19 that restrict the freedom of expression and releasing 20 all journalists imprisoned for fulfilling their profes- 21 sional responsibilities; 22 (2) press freedom is a fundamental human 23 right and should be upheld and protected in Burma 24 and everywhere; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2069.IS S2069 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2069 IS (3) to lock up journalists harkens back to the 1 days of military junta rule. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2069.IS S2069 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS