as any parents might, ma khin khin leh and her husband may have hoped for a better future for their young daughter...but the actions of the military government had mainly brought hardship to the people of myanmar, the southeast asian nation formerly known as burma.so ma khin khin leh, a school teacher, and her husband kyaw wunna, a student activist, helped to plan a peaceful demonstration to be held in the town of bago on july 19, 1999, to protest government policies and to show support for the national league for democracy (nld), the political party headed by nobel peace prize laureate aung san suu kyi...although the nld had won an overwhelming majority of the seats in national parliamentary elections in 1990, the military authorities refused to honor the election results, and instead jailed scores of political activists, including many of those newly elected to the parliament...
days before the bago demonstration was to take place, authorities moved to prevent it...failing to find kyaw wunna, security agents arrested ma khin khin leh and the couple’s three-year-old daughter...although her daughter was released after spending five days in detention, ma khin khin leh, then age 33, was eventually transferred to insein prison in the capital of yangon...on december 3, 1999, the insein special court sentenced her to life imprisonment under vaguely-worded security legislation...even by the normally harsh standards of “justice” meted out by myanmar’s military government, the life sentence given to ma khin khin leh was extreme...
ma khin khin leh (pronounced “mah kin kin lay”) is believed to be held in insein prison, where she reportedly suffers from an unspecified lung problem, rheumatoid arthritis and dysentery...amnesty international is rightfully concerned for her safety and well-being...
authorities in myanmar have justified the imprisonment of hundreds of students, politicians, doctors, lawyers, housewives, farmers and others on the basis that they were seeking to cause "unrest,”...such arrests have been made possible by laws that allow an excessively wide interpretation of what constitutes a threat to security...
i as a member of amnesty international seek the immediate and unconditional release of ma khin khin leh and all prisoners of conscience in myanmar...
so help us get the word out!!!
send your own letter-to-the-editor to one of your community newspapers about ma khin khin leh...call the local newspaper to find out how to submit a letter...
when it is published, please send a copy to:
AIUSA Casework Office
730 Peachtree Street
Suite 1060
Atlanta, GA 30308
fax: 404-876-2276
please feel free to use this sample letter (click here) as a guide, but please be encouraged to add your own thoughts...
peace out <3
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