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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Burma Political Pris5 oners Assistance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The United States has been a longstanding 

9 friend and partner of the people of Burma, and has 

10 sought to promote their democratic aspirations. 


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1 (2) Despite a campaign pledge that Aung San 

2 Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy 

3 (NLD) ‘‘would not arrest anyone as political pris4 oners,’’ they have failed to fulfill this promise since 

5 they took control of Burma’s Union Parliament and 

6 the government’s executive branch in April 2016. 

7 (3) As of March 1, 2019, there were 354 polit8 ical prisoners in Burma, 43 of them serving sen9 tences, 86 awaiting trial inside prison, and 225 

10 awaiting trial outside prison according to the Assist11 ance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma. 

12 (4) During its 3 years in power, the NLD gov13 ernment has provided pardons for Burma’s political 

14 prisoners on three occasions. State Counsellor Aung 

15 San Suu Kyi took steps to secure the release of 

16 nearly 235 political prisoners. On May 23, 2017, 

17 former President Htin Kyaw granted pardons to 259 

18 prisoners, including 89 political prisoners. On April 

19 17, 2018, current President Win Myint pardoned 

20 8,541 prisoners, including 36 political prisoners. 

21 (5) The Burmese security forces have histori22 cally and recently used a range of repressive laws to 

23 arrest and prosecute political prisoners and pris24 oners of conscience. These laws include provisions of 

25 the Penal Code, the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful 


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1 Procession Act, the 1908 Unlawful Associations Act, 

2 the 2013 Telecommunications Act, and the 1923 Of3 ficial Secrets Act. 

4 (6) On January 5, 2015, then-President Thein 

5 Sein announced the reconstitution of the ‘‘Scruti6 nizing Committee into the Prisoners of Conscience 

7 Affairs Committee’’, which was to comprise 28 mem8 bers and which would ‘‘promptly [carry] out pris9 oners of conscience affairs at the grassroots level’’. 

10 However, it appears that the Committee never even 

11 met and no information has been made publicly 

12 available regarding its mandate, procedures, or ac13 tivities. The lack of information and action appears 

14 to justify concerns that the Committee had been re15 constituted merely to deflect growing national and 

16 international criticism, rather than to resolve the 

17 issue of remaining political prisoners. 

18 (7) On December 12, 2017, Wa Lone and 

19 Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters reporters covering the 

20 crisis in Rakhine State, were entrapped, arrested, 

21 and charged with violating the Official Secrets Act, 

22 continuing a trend of restricting media and free 

23 speech and attempting to thwart coverage of the 

24 events in Rakhine State. 


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1 (8) On September 3, 2018, Wa Lone and Kyaw 

2 Soe Oo were convicted and sentenced to seven years 

3 in prison. After 18 months in prison, they were re4 leased from prison. On May 28, 2018, Wa Lone and 

5 Kyaw Soe Oo personally received the Pulitzer Prize 

6 that was awarded to them while they were impris7 oned. 

8 (9) According to Burma free-speech organiza9 tion Athan, 44 journalists and 142 activists have 

10 faced trial since 2016, charged with repressive laws 

11 used to stifle dissent at the same time restrictions 

12 on activist groups are being tightened. In the first 

13 three months of 2019, three Kachin activists were 

14 each sentenced to six months in prison in connection 

15 with peaceful anti-war protests, a protester against 

16 the Myitsone dam (a controversial Chinese backed17 hydropower project) was charged for peaceful dem18 onstrations, and police used excessive force to crack19 down on peaceful protesters in Kayah State, with 

20 some of the demonstrators charged under vaguely 

21 worded, repressive laws. One of the activists, Nang 

22 Pu, was released on April 1, 2019, on health 

23 grounds. 

24 (10) On August 18, 2017, Aung Ko Htwe was 

25 arrested because he gave a media interview in which 


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1 he described his experience as a child soldier, includ2 ing how the military abducted and forcibly recruited 

3 him when he was 13 years old. He was charged 

4 under section 505(b) of Burma’s Penal Code. He 

5 was subsequently sentenced to two years and six 

6 months in prison. 

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE.—The term 

10 ‘‘prisoner of conscience’’ means any person who— 

11 (A) is imprisoned or otherwise physically 

12 restricted solely for the peaceful exercise of his 

13 or her human rights; and 

14 (B) has not used violence or advocated vio15 lence or hatred. 

16 (2) POLITICAL PRISONER.—The term ‘‘political 

17 prisoner’’ applies to a person who has been detained 

18 or imprisoned on politically motivated grounds. Po19 litical prisoners may have used or advocated violence 

20 or hatred, or in some cases they may have com21 mitted some minor offense, which is a pretext for a 

22 politically motivated imprisonment. 

23 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

24 It is the policy of the United States— 


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1 (1) to support Burma’s democratic transition to 

2 a democratic, peaceful, and prosperous state; 

3 (2) that prisoners of conscience and political 

4 prisoners in Burma should be unconditionally and 

5 immediately released and all charges or other pro6 ceedings against them should be abandoned; 

7 (3) to use all diplomatic tools to ensure that all 

8 prisoners of conscience and political prisoners in 

9 Burma are released; and 

10 (4) to support and pressure the Government of 

11 Burma in the repeal and amendment of all laws that 

12 violate the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful 

13 assembly, and association to ensure the laws de14 scribed in section 2(5) comply with international 

15 human rights standards. 

16 SEC. 5. POLITICAL PRISONERS ASSISTANCE. 

17 The Secretary of State shall provide assistance to 

18 civil society organizations in Burma that work to secure 

19 the release of prisoners of conscience and political pris20 oners in Burma, and to current and former prisoners of 

21 conscience and political prisoners in Burma. Assistance 

22 shall include the following activities: 

23 (1) Support for the documentation of human 

24 rights violations with respect to prisoners of con25 science and politically motivated prisoners. 


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1 (2) Support for advocacy in Burma to raise 

2 awareness of issues relating to prisoners of con3 science and political prisoners. 

4 (3) Support for efforts to repeal or amend laws 

5 that are used to imprison individuals as either pris6 oners of conscience or political prisoners. 

7 (4) Support, including travel costs, and legal 

8 fees, for families of prisoners of conscience and polit9 ical prisoners. 

10 (5) Support for health, including mental health, 

11 and post-incarceration assistance in gaining access 

12 to education and employment opportunities or other 

13 forms of reparation to enable former prisoners of 

14 conscience and political prisoners to resume a nor15 mal life. 

16 (6) The delegation of specific United States 

17 mission staff who will observe trials in politically mo18 tivated cases. 

19 SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON CHILD SOLDIERS. 

20 It is the sense of Congress that— 

21 (1) former child soldier Aung Ko Htwe should 

22 be immediately and unconditionally released; and 

23 (2) no one should be in jail for freely expressing 

24 themselves nor for speaking against the military’s 

25 atrocious use of child soldiers in any arena. 


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1 SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that— 

3 (1) the Government of Burma must imme4 diately drop defamation charges against Lum Zawng 

5 and Zau Jet, two Kachin activists who led a peaceful 

6 rally in Mytkyina, the capital of Kachin State, whose 

7 crime is peacefully calling for humanitarian access to 

8 thousands of displaced civilians and for an end to 

9 the armed conflicts in northern Burma; and 

10 (2) the prosecution of these activists is an at11 tempt by the Burmese authorities to intimidate, har12 ass, and silence community leaders and human 

13 rights defenders who speak out about military 

14 abuses and the impact of civilian populations. 

15 SEC. 8. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON PRESS FREEDOM. 

16 It is the sense of Congress that— 

17 (1) the Government of Burma must take steps 

18 to significantly improve the climate for journalists, 

19 including ending the enforcement of draconian laws 

20 that restrict the freedom of expression and releasing 

21 all journalists imprisoned for fulfilling their profes22 sional responsibilities; 

23 (2) press freedom is a fundamental human 

24 right and should be upheld and protected in Burma 

25 and everywhere; and 


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1 (3) to lock up journalists harkens back to the 

2 days of military junta rule. 

Æ 


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