BurmaNet News, May 21, 2009

[Editor]

May 21, 2009, Issue #3715

QUOTE OF THE DAY
“This is an unacceptable situation
. I'm going to visit Myanmar as soon as
possible
. I'm deeply concerned about what has been happening in Myanmar
in terms of democratization and I'm going to urge again the release of
political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi." – Ban Ki-Moon, United
Nations Secretary-General


INSIDE BURMA
New York Times: Myanmar again closes trial of democracy activist
Reuters: Intruder had "vision" Suu Kyi In danger
Independent (UK): 'Crackling with energy', Suu Kyi finally emerges into
the light
Irrawaddy: Threats reported against the NLD’s Win Tin
Telegraph (UK): The children of Cyclone Nargis

ON THE BORDER
SHAN: Shan Herald launches Thai language website

REGIONAL
Mizzima News: EU discusses Burma with China

INTERNATIONAL
Reuters: U.N.'s Ban to go to Myanmar "as soon as possible"
Press Trust of India: UNESCO chief condemns arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi
VOA: Harvard report calls for UN investigation into Burma rights abuses

OPINION / OTHER
DVB: Commentary: The brief charade of an open trial – Francis Wade
Irrawaddy: Suu Kyi’s shrewd message of reconciliation – Kyaw Zwa Moe

INTERVIEW
Irrawaddy: Suu Kyi lawyer says UNSC should meet if she’s convicted

PRESS RELEASE
International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School: World’s leading
jurists call for investigation into crimes against humanity and war crimes
in Burma




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

May 21, New York Times
Myanmar again closes trial of democracy activist – Seth Mydans and Mark
McDonald

With international outrage growing over its prosecution of the Nobel Peace
Prize laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the military regime in Myanmar again
closed her trial on Thursday to foreign diplomats.

The authorities opened the proceedings to 29 ambassadors and a handful of
local reporters on Wednesday, the first chance for outsiders to see the
courtroom, with its clacking typewriters and lazy ceiling fans.

But court officials again barred all visitors and observers on Thursday.

Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy leader, is being tried on charges
that she violated the terms of her current six-year house arrest. The new
charges have drawn widespread scorn, and the British ambassador called the
case “a show trial.”

“You have got all the legal trappings today going on and it all looks very
familiar and comforting,” said the ambassador, Mark Canning, in a BBC
Radio 4 interview after watching Wednesday’s proceedings. “But there is
little doubt that the end of the story is probably already scripted.”

Many analysts say the charges are a pretext for extending Mrs. Aung San
Suu Kyi’s house arrest before elections next year, in which the ruling
generals may fear that her popularity could sway the vote against them.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton assailed the military junta
during a Senate budget hearing on Wednesday, saying it was “outrageous
that they are trying her, and that they continue to hold her because of
her political popularity.”

Mrs. Clinton also said the elections “will be illegitimate because of the
way they have treated her.”

Shown on local television dressed in a pink blouse and maroon sarong, Mrs.
Aung San Suu Kyi, 63, appeared confident and in good spirits on Wednesday.

“I hope to see you in better days,” she said as she was being taken back
to her cell at Insein Prison. The trial, officially on the docket as
Criminal Case No. 47/2009, is being held in a courtroom inside the prison,
which is near Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon.

Afterward, Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi also was allowed to meet briefly with the
ambassadors of Singapore, Russia and Thailand at a so-called “guest house”
inside the prison complex. A report from Singapore’s government quoted its
ambassador, Robert Chua, as saying that Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi “expressed
the view that it was not too late for something good to come out of this
unfortunate incident.”

The latest charges were brought against Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi after an
American adventurer swam across a lake in central Yangon and spent a night
at the waterfront villa where she has spent 13 of the last 19 years under
house arrest. The terms of her detention prohibit foreign guests or
overnight visits without permission; even visiting senior diplomats are
routinely denied access to her.

According to the government mouthpiece, the New Light of Myanmar, an
official testifying at the trial on Wednesday said the police had searched
her home and found a strange collection of items that the swimmer — an
American, John Yettaw, 53 — had left behind.

They included “two black chadors usually worn by Muslim women, two black
scarves, two long skirts, one red torch light, six color pencils in a
plastic bag, three pairs of sunglasses, two signal lights, a pair of
swimming glasses, one two-pin plug, two pieces of circuit wire, one
recharger, a black bag with a zip in it that was used to keep the
apparatuses, a plastic bag with a zip in it, two pairs of gray stockings,
five parts of an English book, and a bag with pieces of torn paper sheets
in it.”

The paper quoted a witness, a police captain named Tin Zaw Tun, as
testifying that Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi signed a search form accepting
responsibility for the items. “Asked why Mr. John William Yettaw left two
chadors, she replied that he left them as gifts for her,” the newspaper
reported.

No explanation has been given for why Mr. Yettaw, an unemployed former
serviceman from Falcon, Mo., swam to her home on May 3 using improvised
floats and homemade flippers. He also is standing trial, along with two
female members of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s household staff.

“Everyone is very angry with this wretched American,” said U Kyi Win, one
of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyers. “He is the cause of all these
problems. He’s a fool.”

Mr. Yettaw apparently sneaked past government security personnel at the
residence and got into Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s home. She asked him to
leave, one of her lawyers said, but, pleading exhaustion, he persuaded her
to let him stay overnight in a ground-floor room. The lawyer said Mr.
Yettaw had spent part of the time praying while he was at the house.

He reportedly made a similar swim last November. Denied entry then, he
left a copy of the Book of Mormon and swam away.

Also Wednesday, another police captain, Sa Kyaw Win, gave a statement that
he had been sent by his superiors on May 6 to search Mr. Yettaw’s
fifth-floor room at the Beauty Land Hotel in Yangon. Sixty-one items were
seized, he said, including three $100 bills that had been slipped into a
telephone book.

Seth Mydans reported from Bangkok, and Mark McDonald from Hong Kong.

____________________________________

May 21, Reuters
Intruder had "vision" Suu Kyi In danger

The American man at the centre of the trial against Myanmar opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi swam to her house after having a vision that her
life was in danger, Suu Kyi's lawyers said Thursday.

Diplomats were again barred from the court inside the notorious Insein
prison Thursday, a day after the junta opened the trial for the first time
since it began Monday.

The gesture at transparency failed to ease international pressure on the
regime to free Nobel laureate Suu Kyi.

Thursday's session heard the first hint of a motive for John Yettaw's
bizarre actions two weeks ago that could see Suu Kyi jailed for up to five
years if she is found guilty of breaking the terms of her house arrest.

Nyan Win, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's party and a member of her defence
team, said Thursday Yettaw had made the comments Tuesday as the court
heard testimony from a police officer who had questioned the American.

Nyan Win said Yettaw told his lawyer to ask the officer: "Do you remember
that I told you at the interrogation that I had a vision that her life
would be in danger?."

"I had come to Myanmar to warn Myanmar authorities and Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi against that danger," Nyan Win quoted the 53-year-old American as
saying. The court refused to allow Yettaw's lawyers to ask the officer the
question.

Yettaw, who state media said used homemade flippers and flotation devices
to swim to her home on May 4, did not discuss his motives at a meeting
with U.S. diplomats after his arrest.

Thursday, the court was shown a two-hour video taken by Yettaw inside the
home, Nyan Win said. At one point, Yettaw turned the camera on himself.

"I have now arrived in Aung San Suu Kyi's house in Myanmar. I asked her
permission to take her picture, but she refused," Nyan Win quoted Yettaw
as saying.

"She looks frightened and I am sorry about this."

The Missouri resident is charged with immigration violations, entering a
restricted area and violating a security law guarding the state from
"those desiring to cause subversive acts."

Suu Kyi and two female assistants who also live in her home were charged
under the same draconian security law a week ago.

Her lawyers argue she did not invite Yettaw and should not be held
responsible for the actions of a troubled man.

"OUTRAGEOUS" TRIAL

Critics say the "scripted" trial is aimed at silencing the charismatic
leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) until after a
multi-party election in the former Burma in 2010.

"We are happy that the Myanmar authorities let our people see Daw Suu Kyi,
but it's not the end," Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said in
Bangkok.

"Our main objective is the release of all political prisoners that will
lead to national reconciliation," he said.

Suu Kyi's current detention order expires on May 27 after a spell of six
years.

The recently ill Suu Kyi appeared healthy and confident during the
45-minute hearing Wednesday attended by 29 diplomats and 10 Burmese
journalists. She said she hoped to see them "in better days."

Singapore ambassador Robert Chua said she told them national
reconciliation was still possible "if all parties so wished" and "it was
not too late for something good to come out of this unfortunate incident."

In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the upcoming
election would be illegitimate because of the treatment of the charismatic
NLD leader.

"It is outrageous that they are trying her and that they continue to hold
her because of her political popularity," Clinton told a congressional
hearing.

Suu Kyi has been detained for more than 13 of the past 19 years, most of
them at her home in Yangon, guarded by police, her mail intercepted and
visitors restricted.

LEFT GIFTS

Despite the tight security at her home, authorities say Yettaw, who
according to media reports suffers from asthma, swam across Inya Lake and
sneaked inside the lakeside compound.

Police said Suu Kyi and her companions violated the terms of her house
arrest by allowing him to stay there for two days.

Her lawyers say she told him to leave but he refused, and Suu Kyi did not
report him for fear he would get into trouble.

At Wednesday's hearing, police captain Tin Zaw Tun said he found several
items left at Suu Kyi's home as gifts by Yettaw, who had first tried to
meet her on November 30 but she refused.

The items included two black chadors, the robes worn by Muslim women in
public, two black scarves, two long skirts, swimming goggles and some
books, the captain said in a report by the state-owned New Light of
Myanmar.

(Writing by Darren Schuettler; Editing by Alan Raybould and Paul Tait)

____________________________________

May 21, Independent (UK)
'Crackling with energy', Suu Kyi finally emerges into the light – Phoebe
Kennedy

Burmese democracy leader leaves her home for the first time since 2003 as
'secret' trial begins

After nearly six years hidden from sight, suddenly yesterday Aung San Suu
Kyi was back on public view – tranquil, composed, yet "crackling with
energy".

Until yesterday Burma's democracy leader was being tried in secret,
somewhere deep inside Rangoon's Insein prison. Then without warning or
explanation, the generals threw open the doors of the court to diplomats
and even a handful of (local) journalists.

Hardly anybody has set eyes on Ms Suu Kyi since she last disappeared
behind the doors of her home in July 2003. UN special envoy Ibrahim
Gambari has met her a couple of times, at his insistence, as have the
senior leadership of the National League for Democracy (NLD), her party.
In November 2007 she came out of her home to pay respects to thousands of
monks demonstrating against the regime who had succeeded in getting as far
as her villa. But that's it.

No diplomats, no friends, no relatives, no journalists, no party members,
practically no one has seen her – with the disastrous exception of John
Yettaw, the American who got it into his head to swim Inya lake to drop in
on her, and gave the regime the excuse to put her on trial.

But there she was in court, in a salmon Burmese jacket and maroon sarong,
as poised as ever. "She was ramrod straight, dignified, composed," said
British ambassador Mark Canning, a witness to the event in company with 10
other ambassadors. "She seemed to crackle with energy – you could see the
way she commanded her defence team, and in fact commanded the wider
courtroom."

"She sat listening intently and alertly to what was going on," said
Philippines chargé d'affaires Joselito Chad Jacinto. "She exuded an aura
which can only be described as awe-inspiring."

It was at 10 o'clock yesterday that the secret trial abruptly turned into
a show trial. "We were called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at 10
o'clock in the morning," said Mr Canning. "We thought it was going to be
the usual explanation of the Myanmar [Burma] government position. Instead
we were told that within two hours we would be in the courtroom."
Overnight the secret trial turned into a show trial.

The democracy icon and Nobel Peace Prize-winner, who has spent 13 of the
past 19 years under house arrest, is accused of violating the terms of her
detention by allowing Mr Yettaw, a Vietnam veteran and Mormon, to spend
two nights in her family's villa on Lake Inya in the suburbs of Rangoon.
Ms Suu Kyi reportedly pleaded with him to leave but relented when he
insisted that he was too exhausted to swim back. If found guilty she could
be jailed for up to five years.

Her latest spell of detention expires later this month. She remains hugely
popular with the Burmese masses, and the trial is widely seen as an excuse
for the regime to keep her out of the way during elections scheduled for
next year. In 1990 the National League for Democracy won a landslide
victory in Burma's last general election, but the military junta refused
to honour the result.

The hearing itself was humdrum: a policeman gave evidence for the
prosecution. At the end of the proceedings she asked the court if she
would be violating any security laws if she addressed the diplomats.
Receiving a negative answer she called out to them in English, greeting
them and saying: "I hope to meet you again in better times."

It was unclear whether diplomats will also be allowed to attend subsequent
hearings. But it did not change the gloomy consensus that the trial itself
is a fix. "It was good as far as it went," Mr Canning said of the opening
up of the trial. "It was better to have access than not. But we shouldn't
lose sight of the fundamental issues. We demand her release, and the
release of the other 2,000 political prisoners locked up in Burma."

____________________________________

May 21, Irrawaddy
Threats reported against the NLD’s Win Tin – Arkar Moe

Fears are being expressed within Burma’s opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD) over the safety of its veteran executive committee member
Win Tin.

According to Rangoon sources, threats have been made against Win Tin by
members of the pro-regime Union Solidarity and Development Association
(USDA) and the paramilitary group Swan Arr Shin.

Aung Thein, a prominent Rangoon lawyer, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday: “I
am concerned about the security of Win Tin and all pro-democracy
activists. Win Tin is a very important person for the NLD.”

Aung Thein said he thought that despite the threats, Win Tin would reject
any idea of employing bodyguards.

The 80-year-old former editor was released earlier this year after serving
19 years in Rangoon’s notorious Insein Prison. This week he joined youth
members of the NLD who gathered outside the jail during the opening days
of Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial.

The USDA, a mass-based governmental organization, and Swan Arr Shin have
been involved in several past attacks on democracy activists, particularly
during the demonstrations of August and September 2007.

The Burmese Lawyers Council said in a statement in March that the USDA's
affiliations with members of the military government and its own comments
on transforming into a political party violated the Unlawful Associations
Act as set out by the government.

Furthermore, the USDA's documented role in abuses against Burmese
citizens, including the 2003 Depayin massacre in which hundreds of
opposition party supporters were killed, also contravened Burmese law.

Meanwhile, five jurists of the International Human Rights Clinic at
Harvard Law School in the US have urged the UN to open an inquiry into
atrocities in Burma.

According to a report issued by the jurists, the Burmese military junta
forced the displacement of more than 3,000 villages in eastern Burma, and
was also guilty of systematic sexual violence, torture and summary
execution of innocent civilians.

The report was written by Judge Richard Goldstone of South Africa, Judge
Patricia Wald of the US, Judge Pedro Nikken of Venezuela, Judge Ganzorig
Gombosuren of Mongolia and Sir Geoffrey Nice of Great Britain.
____________________________________

May 21, Telegraph (UK)
The children of Cyclone Nargis – Ajesh Patalay

A year after Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma, many orphans are still
fending for themselves. Their story is only now being told after
documentary filmmakers risked 30 years in jail to defy the junta's
blackout.

On May 2 2008, at about 6pm local time, Burma was struck by the worst
natural disaster in its history. Unleashing winds of up to 135mph and
triggering flood waters that surged to 16ft, Cyclone Nargis tore across
the Irrawaddy Delta in southern Burma and swept up through Rangoon,
leaving roughly 140,000 dead and 2.4 million displaced or severely
affected.

Among the survivors were tens of thousands of children, orphaned or
separated from their parents, who in the immediate aftermath were left to
fend for themselves.

A year later, some have been reunited with family members, some have been
taken into orphanages and monasteries, and some have ended up in refugee
camps on the Thai-Burma border. But many children are still eking out an
existence on their own, faced with the daily ordeal of accessing food and
drinking water, while living in makeshift huts constructed out of bamboo
and tarpaulin that offer scant protection from the impending monsoons.

Orphans of the Storm, a remarkable documentary that uses footage shot
undercover by Burmese cameramen across the restricted delta region, tells
the harrowing stories of these orphaned children and honours their
extraordinary resilience in the long year since Nargis.

The idea for the documentary originated with Evan Williams, a former
south-east Asia correspondent for ABC (Australian Broadcasting
Corporation), who approached Ed Braman, the commissioning editor of news
and current affairs at Channel 4, shortly after the cyclone hit. In
collaboration with Quicksilver Media, the production company behind the
acclaimed Unreported World series, Williams, 45, was determined to
document on film the unfolding situation in Burma.

It quickly became apparent how urgent that situation was. In the tense few
weeks after Nargis, the ruling military junta in Burma, the State Peace
and Development Council (SPDC), severely restricted access to
international agencies and aid workers. French and American naval ships
bearing supplies waited offshore for two weeks until, lacking official
permission, they were forced to withdraw. (The SPDC's hindrance of
international relief efforts during that time was impugned by the US
Secretary of State for having caused tens of thousands of deaths.)

Even when foreign aid got through – Save the Children reports having
reached more than 160,000 people with food, water, plastic sheeting and
basic provisions within two weeks – it proved inadequate to meet the need.
Human Rights Watch later noted that only just over half of those affected
by the cyclone had received any form of international assistance after two
months. Instead of deploying its 500,000-strong army on emergency relief,
the Burmese government was seen to focus its resources on mounting a
national referendum.

For Williams and the team at Channel 4 it was essential to be able to tell
this story through the eyes of Burma's orphans. But how? Foreign
journalists were banned in Burma. Access to the delta for local camera
crews was prohibited. The only option was to film covertly. Williams knew
exactly whom to approach. The Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), an
organisation that runs a radio and television news service from exile in
Oslo, feeding its material back to Burma via satellite, had through its
network of underground cameramen (or VJs) already provided much of the
early footage of Cyclone Nargis that was shown around the world. (Their
footage of the 'saffron revolution' protests held by Buddhist monks in
September 2007 was used extensively in this year's Sundance Award-winning
documentary, Burma VJ.)

'It is a remarkable organisation,' Williams says of DVB, whose operatives
he got to know during his time at ABC. 'Their cameramen and reporters risk
very long jail terms – anywhere between 18 and 30 years – if they are
caught. But there's this Burmese thing: they won't let it stop. Every time
I go back there's a new generation of kids who are saying, "This is wrong,
we want democracy, we're going to do something about it." It's incredibly
humbling and inspiring.'


>From the outset DVB was keen to be involved, partly to get the story out

but also for the chance to work with an experienced Western documentary
crew ('to increase their own skill set,' Williams says, 'which helps DVB
and media in Burma long term').

None the less, the project posed considerable risks to DVB's cameramen. 'A
lot of these guys were used to grabbing quick bits of information,
sticking it in their bag and disappearing,' Williams says. 'This was a
whole different ball game.' For the purposes of a documentary, Williams
required the VJs not only to travel extensively through the delta in
search of stories, but also to return to the same spots again and again as
they followed particular survivors.

Given the proliferation in the area of intelligence officers and
informers, any of whom could shop them to the authorities, Williams says,
'It upped the danger considerably.'

Williams recruited three teams of two, each comprising one DVB cameraman
and a colleague to 'keep an eye out' while filming. In early June 2008 the
cameramen – codenamed Zor, Sam and Tom – broke protocol to meet each other
(for security reasons the VJs prefer not to be acquainted) and Williams
near the Thai border.

Over the next two days Williams played them various documentaries – none
of them was very familiar with the format – as well as detailing what
kinds of footage he was after. Then, equipped with special HD video
cameras ('slightly bigger than they were comfortable with,' Williams
says), the cameramen crossed back into Burma and journeyed separately down
into the Irrawaddy Delta. Now it was up to them.

For more on this story, please visit:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/5350077/Burma-the-children-of-Cyclone-Nargis---myanmar.html

The orphans' names have been changed.

'Dispatches: Orphans of the Storm', will be shown at 8pm on June 1, on
Channel 4

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

May 21, Shan Herald Agency for News
Shan Herald launches Thai language website – Hseng Khio Fah

The Shan Herald Agency for News has launched its Thai web page today which
coincides with the 51st anniversary of the Shan Resistance Day that began
in 1958.
The web page is www.khonkhurtai.com , aiming for Thai people to have
access to current news and feature articles covering political issues,
war, culture, history, human rights, environment and education taking
place in Shan State and Burma in a convenient way.

 The Shan Herald has been publishing reports and periodicals in Shan,
Burmese, English, and Thai, featuring politics, literature, human rights
reporting and opinion columns since it establishment on 27 December 1991,
according to Editor in Chief Khuensai Jaiyen.

“At that time we were struggling each month to raise funds to print our
publications,” he said.

The Thai News Project was launched on 27 December 2000. Apart from SHAN
news, it also translations reports from other news groups like Irrawaddy,
Mizzima and New Era Journal for its Thai readers.

It is widely known among Thai youth, activists, observers, monks,
politicians and media groups like www.matichon.co.th and
www.prachathai.com .

The Shan Herald launched its English language web page www.shanland.org on
21 May 2001, Shan language web page www.mongloi.org on 21 May 2004 and
Burmese language web page www.burmese.mongloi.org or
www.mongloi.org/Burmese on 16 July 2008. In addition, it also publishes
the bilingual Independence monthly and annual drug watch reports.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

May 21, Mizzima News
EU discusses Burma with China – Salai Pi Pi

The European Union has talked to China about military ruled Burma, which
was one of the regional issues in the bilateral summit held in Prague,
capital of Czech Republic on Wednesday.

Burma was among the many issues ranging from global challenges including
the financial crisis, climate change, and international affairs which EU
officials and Chinese representatives discussed for nearly two hours,
according to a Joint Press communique of the 11th China-EU Summit released
on May 20.

“Discussions focused on China-EU relations, the global economic and
financial crisis, climate change and energy security as well as an
exchange of views on regional issues [Korean Peninsula, Myanmar, Iran, Sri
Lanka, Afghanistan and Pakistan],” said joint statement of China-EU
Summit.

It did not reveal the details of the discussion on Burma by China’s
Premier Wen Jiabao led delegates and EU officials represented by President
Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic, the rotating EU presidency.

Meanwhile, Harn Yawnghwe, Director of the Brussels based Euro-Burma office
said, the main issues in the discussions on Burma in yesterday’s summit
could be the Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial and
seeking the help of China to pressurize the Burmese military regime for
political change in Burma.

“Possibly, regarding Burma, they had talked of Aung San Suu Kyi and
China’s help to pressurize Burma,” Yawnghwe told Mizzima on Thursday.

However, Deutsche Presse Agentur, on Wednesday reported that EU and China
failed to bridge the difference on areas including Myanmar, North Korea,
Taiwan, climate change, trade liberalization and minority rights.

Wen Jiabao called on the 27 countries bloc to expand "practical
cooperation" instead of pushing China to change its position on
international as well as internal affairs, the report said.

EU, which imposed measures such as economic sanctions, an arms embargo and
visa ban on Burmese military officials and their family members, on Monday
said it is looking for possibilities of applying fresh sanctions against
the Burmese regime after Noble Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was put on
a trial for an allegedly harbouring a US citizen, John William Yettaw, who
swam to her house on May 3 and stayed there for two nights.

The Burmese regime charged Aung San Suu Kyi for violating the terms of
detention and accepting Yettaw and providing him food. If she is
convicted, she is likely to face up to five years in prison.

Last week, the EU and its foreign minister strongly urged the junta to
release Aung San Suu Kyi and engage in an inclusive process of national
reconciliation.

Besides, in a bid to make its restriction on Burma effective, the EU
foreign ministers and officials said they are looking forward to Burma's
giant neighbours, China and India to increase pressure on the regime.

"I don't think additional sanctions will help because you have seen they
have not helped," reports quoted the EU External Relations Commissioner
Benita Ferrero-Waldner as saying.

“We have to reinforce dialogue with Burma's neighbours ... I think that is
the way forward it should always be a subject of discussion with China,
India and others,” Waldner said.

However, China, which is a major trading partner and close ally of Burma,
holds the view that Burma’s problem should be best addressed internally.

In a press briefing, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu said,
"I'd like to point out that the affairs of Myanmar [Burma] should be
decided by the people of Myanmar [Burma].”

“As a neighbour of Myanmar [Burma], we hope that the relevant sides in
Myanmar[Burma] will use dialogue to achieve reconciliation, stability and
development," Ma added.

International reaction

Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial has also triggered criticism of the junta by the
international community, including United Nations, United States and ASEAN
leaders.

On Tuesday, the Israeli government also joined the call for her release
and expressed hope for the restoration of democracy and national
reconciliation in Burma.

On May 18, Japan’s foreign minister Hirofumi Nakasone make a personal
telephone call and had a conversation with Burmese foreign minister Nyan
Win on the matter related to the charges against Aung San Suu Kyi.

Nakasone conveyed Japan’s deep anxiety over the charges brought against
Aung San Suu Kyi and warned that the charges would have a great impact on
the junta’s ensuing election in 2010.

Similarly, Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State on Wednesday told the
Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on State and Foreign Affairs
that Burma’s 2010 election will be illegitimate if the junta kept treading
the same path.

She also said the charge against Aung San Suu Kyi was “baseless.”

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

May 21, Reuters
U.N.'s Ban to go to Myanmar "as soon as possible" – Louis Charbonneau

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon plans to visit Myanmar as soon as
possible and will urge the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
and other political prisoners.

Ban said Suu Kyi was in good health and that U.N. officials in the country
were closely monitoring her condition at the notorious Insein prison in
Yangon.

"This is an unacceptable situation," he told CNN television in an
interview aired on Thursday.

Ban said he was discussing the timing of his visit with the country's
authorities.

"I'm going to visit Myanmar as soon as possible," he said.

"I'm deeply concerned about what has been happening in Myanmar in terms of
democratization and I'm going to urge again the release of political
prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi," he said.

U.N. diplomats say they expect Ban probably will not go to Myanmar before
July.

The military junta that has ruled the Asian country since 1962 has put Suu
Kyi on trial again, accusing her of breaking the terms of her house arrest
because an American man swam to the lakeside home of the Nobel Peace
laureate.

If found guilty, she could be jailed for up to five years.

Critics say the trial is scripted and aimed at silencing the charismatic
leader of the National League for Democracy until after a multi-party
election in the country formerly known as Burma in 2010.

Suu Kyi has been detained for more than 13 of the past 19 years, most of
them at her home in Yangon, guarded by police, her mail intercepted and
visitors restricted.

Ban visited Myanmar in May 2008 after the country was devastated by a
cyclone, winning agreement from senior general Than Shwe to admit foreign
aid workers. He has promised to return to discuss political issues but
aides said he was reluctant to visit without assurance of a concrete
result.

Separately, Western diplomats in New York said on condition of anonymity
that the U.N. Security Council, which has so far been silent on the issue
of Suu Kyi's latest trial, is negotiating a statement condemning her
incarceration.

They said the U.S.-drafted statement would have the council deploring her
new trial and demanding her release. But China, the nearest Myanmar has to
a major ally, has objected to the wording and would like to soften it, the
diplomats said.

(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; editing by Bill Trott)

____________________________________

May 21, Press Trust of India
UNESCO chief condemns arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi

The head of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO) has expressed concerns over the arrest and trial of Myanmar's
democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, coinciding with when her house arrest
was due to end, to the leader of the ruling military junta.

In a letter sent to military leader General Than Shwe, UNESCO
Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura did not pass judgment on the validity
of the charges against her, but underscored that Aung San Suu Kyi – who
received the 2002 UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of
Tolerance and Non-Violence – plays a very important role in the country's
national reconciliation process.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who leads the National League for Democracy (NLD) and
two aides were taken by security forces on May 14 to Insein Prison, where
they were charged by a special court. They are said to have been charged
with violating the terms of her house arrest, after an uninvited United
States citizen gained access to their home, and her trial is currently
under way.

Matsuura added his voice to the chorus of UN officials, including
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in calling for her immediate and
unconditional release.

At the Government's invitation, Bishow Parajuli, the UN Resident
Coordinator in Myanmar, along with other diplomats in Yangon, attended
yesterday's trial.

Following the session, representatives of three States were invited by
authorities to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi: Singapore, as dean of the
diplomatic corps; Thailand, as the chair of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN); and Russia, as president of the Security Council.

Parajuli was later briefed by the three on their meeting with her.

Last week, High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay emphasised that
"her continued detention, and now this latest trial, breach international
standards of due process and fair trial."

It had been hoped that Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate,
would be released when her current detention order, which has already
continued for one year longer than the maximum of five years permitted
under Myanmar's laws, expires at the end of this month.

Suu Kyi has spent over 12 years under house arrest. On May 30 2003, she
was re-arrested under a law which states that a person "suspected of
having committed or believed to be about to commit, any act which
endangers the sovereignty and security of the state" can be detained.

In May 2007, the government extended her arrest for another year, bringing
her detention to the five-year limit, and her detention was prolonged for
sixth year last May.

____________________________________

May 21, Voice of America
Harvard report calls for UN investigation into Burma rights abuses –
Daniel Schearf

A report from the prestigious Harvard Law School, located in the state of
Massachusetts, says Burma's military-ruled government should be
investigated for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The report comes
as the trial continues against detained Burmese democracy leader Aung San
Suu Kyi.

Abuses are systematic, report says

The report released by Harvard's International Human Rights Clinic says
there are indications human rights abuses in Burma are widespread,
systematic, and part of state policy.

The report, titled "Crimes in Burma," says the abuses may qualify as
crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Based entirely on analysis of 15 years of United Nations' documents, the
report notes sexual violence, forced displacements, torture, and
extrajudicial killings.

Comparisons to Darfur

Tyler Giannini is the clinical director of the human rights program at
Harvard and an author of the report. He says the United Nations Security
Council should investigate Burma just as it investigated similar abuses in
former Yugoslavia and Darfur.

"The numbers of villages that were attacked and destroyed in Darfur are
comparable to the number of villages in eastern Burma that have been
destroyed," Giannini noted. "The Special Rapporteur on the situation of
human rights in Burma has found that, based on reliable and independent
sources, more than 3,000 villages since 1996 had been displaced or
destroyed in eastern Burma. Those are very significant numbers."

Will UN Security Council act?

The report notes that UN bodies over the years have spoken out against
Burma's abuses, but the UN Security Council has failed to move the process
forward.

Five international jurists commissioned the report, some of whom served as
prosecutors and judges at international criminal tribunals in the former
Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

Burma's military leaders are under increasing international pressure as
the trial continues against democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

Giannini says the report is timely as the trial has once again brought
attention to abuses inside Burma.

"In addition to the crackdown and the spurious charges against her, which
bring further evidence of this military regime's practices and
restrictions on fundamental freedoms of all its people, a study like this
will highlight for the security council that in addition to the political
issues in Burma there's also issues surrounding potential international
criminal violations," he said.

Democracy leader's trial condemned

Aung San Suu Kyi is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest,
where she has been kept for most of the last 19 years, and could be
sentenced to five years in prison.

The charges have been widely condemned as an excuse to keep the Nobel
Peace Prize winner locked up.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won Burma's last
elections in 1990, but the military ignored the results and put her under
house arrest.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

May 21, Democratic Voice of Burma
Commentary: The brief charade of an open trial – Francis Wade

Yesterday, as diplomats and journalists caught a rare glimpse into the
notoriously secretive Burmese judicial system, there was the briefest
glimmer of hope that international pressure had finally worked its way to
the heart of Burma’s ruling junta.

With growing numbers of world leaders, including the normally reluctant
Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc, adding their voices to calls
for an open and fair trial for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, it
seemed the generals’ stubbornness had momentarily wavered.

In a surprise announcement yesterday, 10 journalists from both domestic
and international agencies were allowed to enter Insein prison,
accompanied by 30 foreign ambassadors. To add a further lick of paint,
three ambassadors were then allowed to meet with Suu Kyi in person
following the close of hearings.

Few outsiders are permitted to enter such bastions of Burmese military
autocracy as Insein prison, let alone witness the trial of such a
high-profile political prisoner in Burma. Newspapers across the world
tentatively heralded what they saw as the results of mounting pressure on
the regime, which had thus far brushed off repeated accusations of a
“bogus” trial and a “mockery” of judicial law and kept the door firmly
shut.

Yet one of the diplomats allowed inside the courtroom, Britain’s Mark
Canning, took no time in quashing expectations.

"The access we had today was welcome, but doesn't change the fundamental
reality," he told the BBC yesterday.

"All the paraphernalia of the courtroom was there, the judges, the
prosecution, the defense. But I think this is a story where the conclusion
is already scripted."

And the feedback received from yesterday’s observers would confirm this.
Most of the 30 diplomats who observed the hour-long hearing were left
twiddling their thumbs, with no-one present to translate what was being
said. Only the US consuls were given language aid, while the Chinese,
Japanese and North Korean officials had a basic grasp of the Burmese
language. That left 25 forced to accept that they had fallen for the
generals’ tricks. While their appearance no doubt gave the slightest of
cosmetic lifts to the trial, the substance of their presence could only
benefit those behind the controls.

According to reporters, Yettaw looked nervous as he sat alone in the
courtroom. Suu Kyi on the other hand remained composed, the superficiality
and futility of the situation all too familiar. At the close of hearings
she thanked the observers for attending, and hoped that they would meet
“in better days”.

Then came the next act in the generals’ diplomatic performance. Suu Kyi
was ushered out at the close of court and into the company of three of the
diplomats. That those chosen were from Russia, Thailand and Singapore,
three of the handful of countries that remain close to the regime, signals
the extent that Burma will go to answer to its critics.

A Thai foreign ministry official said on Tuesday that it “will not use
strong measures or economic sanctions against [Burma] because it is not an
appropriate resolution for the current problem”, despite expressing “grave
concern” for Suu Kyi’s situation. In other words it will go no further
than rhetorical condemnation: water off a duck’s back for the junta.

Singapore have been slightly more venomous in their condemnation of the
trial, expressing “dismay” and warning of a setback to Burma’s national
reconciliation, but as a key member of ASEAN, and therefore subject to its
policy of non-interference epitomized by Thailand’s stance, it is unlikely
to go further.

What must have been the ultimate kick in the teeth for Suu Kyi was the
presence of Russia, one of Burma’s key allies and leading supplier of
military equipment to those holding her in detention. The technology used
by the government to monitor and charge members of Suu Kyi’s National
League for Democracy (NLD) party is provided largely by Russia. Indeed,
many government intelligence officials are graduates in Defense Electronic
Technology at the Moscow Aviation Institute.

Little is known of the talks, and nothing seems to have been achieved.
After this rare fling with the outside world, Suu Kyi, her two caretakers,
and the US citizen John Yettaw are back behind closed doors, the gates to
Insein once again barred.

One can safely assume that the conclusion of the trial is foregone: indeed
the bulk of the script for this episode was written long before Yettaw
arrived on the scene, decades ago when Suu Kyi channeled Burma’s
discontent with military rule right to the voting booths. The junta will
have found a way to keep her behind bars - the threat of not doing so too
great for the paranoid generals - but Yettaw provided a perfectly tangible
excuse, whether legitimate or not, to bring her to court.

A renowned former political prisoner at Insein and pivotal member of the
NLD, Win Tin, summarised the charade that this trial has already, all too
predictably, turned out to be.

“This [the diplomats allowed into the courtroom] doesn’t mean the trial
has been transformed to be free and fair,” he said.

“This is merely a thing the government does similar to when they invite
foreign diplomats to events where they destroy confiscated drugs.

“It’s a gesture to convince them they are doing things properly.”

____________________________________

May 21, Irrawaddy
Suu Kyi’s shrewd message of reconciliation – Kyaw Zwa Moe

The lady in the kangaroo court of the Burmese junta made a smart and
important move when she met with diplomats in the Insein Prison compound
on Wednesday. It concerned national reconciliation.

The pro-democracy leader told the diplomats she spoke with, “There could
be many opportunities for national reconciliation if all parties so
wished...,” according to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Singapore, whose ambassador met with Suu Kyi.

The statement said that she also “expressed the view that it was not too
late for something good to come out of this unfortunate incident,”
referring to her trial, in which she is charged with violating the terms
of her house arrest.

Her words are so true and so important for the country. Suu Kyi didn’t
emphasize her concern about the trial during her meeting with the
diplomats. “She did not wish to use the intrusion into her home as a way
to get at the Burma authorities,” read the statement.

National reconciliation is the only way to solve Burma’s political
stalemate. In the past two decades, opposition groups and the
international community have repeatedly called for it—and the military
regime has turned a deaf ear.

To date, national reconciliation is just an idealistic dream for Burma.
Certainly, it’s more difficult following the regime’s brutal crackdowns,
such as its violent attack on Suu Kyi’s motorcade in Depayin in 2003, the
monk-led civil protests in 2007 and the lengthy imprisonments of prominent
former student leaders in 2008.

Such hostile and systematic blows against democracy by the junta make it
harder for the two sides to reach reconciliation. But it’s clear, once
again, that the opposition has the will to reconcile. The question is,
once again, does the regime?

The answer is clear: No.

Just look at the generals’ show trial against Suu Kyi. They want her out
of the picture during the 2010 national election, despite calls by the
international community to make the election inclusive with the National
League of Democracy party and other opposition and ethnic organizations.

Suu Kyi has tried to rise above the antagonistic moves made by the junta
in the past and, instead, take the initiative to encourage reconciliation.
The importance of her message to diplomats was that it was directed at the
international community, both Western countries and neighboring ones.

After the meeting, Singaporean Ambassador Robert Chua, as Dean of the
diplomatic corps, expressed the hope that there would be a peaceful
national reconciliation.

He said Suu Kyi told the diplomats, “I hope to meet you all in better
days.” Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya quoted the Thai diplomat who
met with her that she also expressed the hope to work with the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations one day.

The diplomats and their representative countries all understand that won’t
happen in the near future. Because Suu Kyi’s detention will be extended by
the generals, who have already written the lines for the trial’s verdict:
Guilty, five years.

Among the diplomats, the British Ambassador Mark Canning accurately read
the trial situation and the current political scene. “I think this is a
story where the conclusion is already scripted,” he said. “I don’t have
any confidence in the outcome. While the access we had today was very
welcome, it doesn’t change the fundamental problem.”

He is absolutely right. The top leaders of the regime have already decided
how many years Suu Kyi should be punished and where she will serve out the
sentence—in her home or in prison.

As Suu Kyi said, it is important now to try to get something good to come
out of this unfortunate incident. The international community, including
Asean and neighboring countries, especially China and India, has to try to
get something good out of this opportunity.

All countries are being judged like never before, in hope that this time
they will take effective actions to influence the regime. It’s time to
show more principle, more leadership, to be on the side that’s right—not
simply on the side of power.

____________________________________
INTERVIEW

May 21, Irrawaddy
Suu Kyi lawyer says UNSC should meet if she’s convicted

Lawyers representing Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will press
for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council if she is convicted
and imprisoned by the court now trying her in Rangoon, according to her
Washington-based counsel Jared Genser. The interview with The Irrawaddy in
full:

Question: What is your professional assessment of the case against Aung
San Suu Kyi and the way the trial is being conducted?

Answer: I believe firmly that the case is both deeply substantively and
procedurally flawed. Substantively, Aung San Suu Kyi has been charged with
violating the terms of her house arrest under Article 22 of the State
Protection Law. But the junta had exclusive responsibility for providing
security around her home. Particularly given that John Yettaw reportedly
broke into her compound once before many months ago and this was reported
to the junta, it was on notice of the potential security problems. The
fact that the junta allowed Mr Yettaw to reenter the country and break
into her compound again is entirely its responsibility.

Procedurally, the conduct of the trial has been deeply flawed. Problems
with the trial include:
(1) failing to allow Suu Kyi her choice of counsel by revoking the law
licence of Aung Thein;
(2) failing to provide adequate time for the defense to prepare for a trial;
(3) failing to provide a fair and public hearing by a competent,
independent and impartial tribunal. There is no independent judiciary in
Burma—the judges take instruction from the junta;
(4) failing to provide Suu Kyi a presumption of innocence;
(5) failing to comply with prior rulings of the UN Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention that the law under which she was held was itself in
clear violation of international law.

Q: The case against Suu Kyi comes less than two weeks before she was due
legally to be released after serving six years of house arrest. Do you
think this is a political case rather than a legal one?

A: Yes. I think there is little doubt that this charge was a pretext for
continuing to detain Suu Kyi and ensure that she remained imprisoned until
well after the scheduled 2010 elections, despite the fact that those
elections are already rigged by the rules established in the so-called
constitution that was adopted in the flawed referendum.

Q: According to reports in The New Light of Myanmar and other official
newspapers, Suu Kyi and her two personal assistants are accused of
breaking Section 22 of the “Law to Safeguard the State Against the Dangers
of Those Desiring to Cause Subversive Acts,” because they gave food and
shelter to an American intruder. Do you think this is an appropriate
charge?

A: I think this charge is patently ridiculous.

Q: What could you do if the court sentences her to a prison term, which
could be as long as five years?

A: We will immediately file another case to the UN Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention arguing that her sentencing under the State Protection
Law is again in violation of international law. In addition, we will
request an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the
situation in Burma.

To be clear, this is not merely because of her sentencing, which I do
believe has a destabilizing effect on the region, but actually because the
Burmese junta has failed to abide by the demands of the Security Council's
presidential statement issued in 2007 after the Saffron Revolution.

Among other demands, the Council urged an early release of political
prisoners including Suu Kyi, a renewed effort towards achieving national
reconciliation and a restoration of democracy in the country, and open
access for humanitarian aid. The junta's continuing conduct has flouted
the will of the Security Council and if the junta were to give Suu Kyi an
additional term of imprisonment, it would be symbolic of the junta's
ongoing oppression of the Burmese people.  The Security Council should
reengage on the situation in Burma because of the threat it poses to
international peace and security.

Q: Exile opposition groups are trying to have leaders of the Burmese
military government brought before the International Criminal Court on
charges of crimes against humanity. Do you think their action has any
chance of success in ending human rights abuses in Burma?

A: While I personally believe that crimes against humanity are being
committed in Burma, I think it will be challenging to persuade the UN
Security Council to refer the situation in Burma to the International
Criminal Court because of the veto right of China and Russia in
particular.

As readers will recall, China and Russia previously vetoed a non-binding,
non-punitive resolution on Burma proposed in January 2007. Because Burma
is not a signatory to the Rome Statute which established the ICC, the only
way to get the situation considered there is through a Security Council
referral.

I think the best way to end the abuses in Burma will be for national
reconciliation to be achieved. Ultimately, it should be for the Burmese
people to decide how justice should be meted out.

All that said, however, there is definitely an important role for advocacy
groups to play to press for a Security Council referral to the ICC to
raise awareness of the terrible abuses taking place in Burma because these
abuses fall squarely within the definition of crimes against humanity.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

May 21, International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School
World’s leading jurists call for investigation into crimes against
humanity and war crimes in Burma

New report from Harvard Law School finds that UN documents on Burma
provide grounds for investigation into international crimes; calls for
more concerted UN action on Burma

Cambridge, Mass. – Five of the world’s leading international jurists have
commissioned a report from the International Human Rights Clinic at
Harvard Law School, calling for the UN Security Council to act on more
than fifteen years of condemnation from other UN bodies on human rights
abuses in Burma. The Harvard report, Crimes in Burma, comes in the wake of
renewed international attention on Burma, with the continued persecution
of Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi. The report concludes with
a call for the UN Security Council to establish a Commission of Inquiry
into crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma.

The Harvard report is based on an analysis of scores of UN documents –
including UN General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights resolutions,
as well as reports from several different Special Rapporteurs. These
indicate that human rights abuses in Burma are widespread, systematic, and
part of state policy – legal terms that justify further investigation and
strongly suggest Burma’s military regime may be committing crimes against
humanity and war crimes prosecutable under international law. Major abuses
cited by the United Nations include forced displacement of over 3,000
villages in eastern Burma, and widespread and systematic sexual violence,
torture, and summary execution of innocent civilians.

Yet, despite such documentation from multiple UN organs, the UN Security
Council has not moved to investigate potential crimes against humanity or
war crimes in Burma, as it has in other areas of the world, including
Darfur and Rwanda.

“Over and over again, UN resolutions and Special Rapporteurs have spoken
out about the abuses that have been reported to them in Burma. The UN
Security Council, however, has not moved the process forward as it should
and has in similar situations such as those in the former Yugoslavia and
Darfur,” the jurists write in the report’s preface. “In the cases of
Yugoslavia and Darfur, once aware of the severity of the problem, the UN
Security Council established a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the
gravity of the violations further. With Burma, there has been no such
action from the UN Security Council despite being similarly aware of the
widespread and systematic nature of the violations.”

The five jurists who commissioned the report, from Africa, Asia, Europe,
and North and South Africa, are Judge Richard Goldstone (South Africa),
Judge Patricia Wald (United States), Judge Pedro Nikken (Venezuela), Judge
Ganzorig Gombosuren (Mongolia), and Sir Geoffrey Nice (United Kingdom). 
Among other accomplishments, Judge Goldstone served on South
Africa’sConstitutional Court and was the first prosecutor at both the
International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda.
Judge Wald served as Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia and as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal
for the former Yugoslavia. Judge Nikken served as President of the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Judge Gombosuren served as a Supreme
Court Justice in Mongolia, and Sir Nice was the deputy prosecutor of the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the
principal prosecution trial attorney in the case against Slobodan
Milosevic in the Hague.

Each of the five jurists has dealt directly with severe human rights
abuses in the international system, and all five call for the UN Security
Council to establish a Commission of Inquiry to investigate and report on
crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma.

The Harvard report specifically examines four international human rights
violations documented by UN bodies over the past fifteen years: sexual
violence, forced displacement, torture, and extrajudicial killings. The
report focuses on UN documents since 2002, to allow examination of the
most up-to-date UN material, although UN reports dating back to 1992 have
consistently condemned a wide-range of violations in Burma.

Tyler Giannini, the Clinical Director of the Human Rights Program at
HarvardLaw School and one of the report’s authors, said its findings
clearly demonstrate that a Commission of Inquiry on Burma should proceed.

“The UN Security Council has taken action regarding Yugoslavia, Rwanda,
and Sudan when it identified information strongly suggesting the existence
of crimes against humanity and war crimes,” said Giannini. “As our
research shows, UN documents clearly and authoritatively suggest that the
human rights abuses occurring in Burma are not isolated incidents – they
are potential crimes against humanity and war crimes. Failure by the UN
Security Council to take action and investigate these crimes could mean
that violations of international criminal law will go unchecked.”

For more information on Crimes in Burma, or to view a copy of the report,
visit http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/hrp/newsid=59.html.

For media interviews in the United States, please contact Michael Jones at
617-595-7868 or mijones at law.harvard.edu, or Julianne Stevenson at
617-682-5519 or
jstevenson at llm09.law.harvard.edu. For media interviews in Thailand, please
contact Tyler Giannini at +66 89 020 6646 or giannini at law.harvard.edu.

###

The International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School’s Human Rights
Program is a center for scholarship and advocacy on human rights. Each
year, the Clinic undertakes dozens of human rights projects in partnership
with organizations around the globe, focusing on litigation, fact-finding
investigations, legal and policy analysis, and report drafting for
international oversight bodies.