March 9, 2006

Senior General Than Shwe
Chairman, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)
Ministry of Defense
Signal Pagoda Road
Dagon Post Office
Yangon
UNION OF MYANMAR (Burma)

Dear Senior General:

Throughout my life I have been guided and shaped by teachers. I have not always agreed with their political and religious or even social views, but from each teacher I have learned the value of critical thinking and healthy debate, and most importantly the often difficult yet mature position of respecting every person’s freedom of opinion and expression. Today I respectfully exercise that right to express my deep concern for Ma Khin Khin Leh, a teacher sentenced to life imprisonment for exercising her right to peacefully protect government policies.

Ma Khin Khin Leh and her husband participated in a group planning a demonstration on July 19, 1999, in the town of Bago. Days before the protest date, security agents arrested Ma Khin Khin Leh and her 3-year-old daughter. Although her daughter was released after five days in detention, Ma Khin Khin Leh was eventually transferred to Insein Prison in Yangon. On December 3, 1999, the Insein Special Court sentenced her to life imprisonment based only on vaguely worded security legislation.

We are told that Ma Khin Khin Leh is being held in Insein Prison, where she reportedly suffers from an unspecified lung disorder, rheumatoid arthritis, and dysentery. Amnesty International and citizens around the world are concerned for her safety and well-being.

Of related concern is the fact that authorities in Myanmar routinely use general security laws, such as the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act, to prosecute people for peaceful political and religious activities. As guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all people have the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the right to peaceful assembly and association.

It is merely an accident of place and time that I was not a student of Ma Khin Khin Leh before her wrongful arrest. But in her respect for human rights, which includes us all, she is my teacher.

I join with Amnesty International in urging you to bring about the immediate and unconditional release of Ma Khin Khin Leh and all prisoners of conscience in Myanmar.

Thank you.