,i  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #bcbg  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,april #ae1 #bjai,mr4
 ,levin of ,michigan 7for himself and   
,mrs4 ,wagner7 introduced the following 
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,foreign ,affairs  ,a     
,,bill  ,to direct the ,secretary of    
,state to provide assistance to civil   
society organizations in ,burma that    
work to secure the release of prisoners 
of conscience and political prisoners in
 ,burma1 and assistance to current and  
former prisoners of conscience and      
political prisoners in ,burma1 and for  
other purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this 
,act may be cited as the ,burma         
,political ,prisoners ,assistance ,act4 
#b4 ,findings ,congress makes the       
following findings3  7#a7 ,aung ,san    
,suu ,kyi and the ,national ,league for 
,democracy 7,,nld7 pledged that they    
would not arrest anyone as political    
prisoners1 but have failed to fulfill   
this promise since they took control of 

,burma's ,union ,parliament and the     
,government's executive branch in ,april
 #bjaf4  7#b7 ,as of ,march #a1 #bjai1  
there are #ced political prisoners in   
,burma1 #dc of them serving sentences1  
#hf awaiting trial inside prison1 and   
#bbe awaiting trial outside prison1     
according to the ,assistance            
,association for ,political ,prisoners  
in ,burma4  7#c7 ,during its three years
 in power1 the ,,nld ,government has    
provided pardons for ,burma's political 
prisoners on three occasions4 ,state    
,counsellor ,aung ,san ,suu ,kyi took   
steps to secure the release of nearly   
#bce political prisoners4 ,on ,may #bc1 
#bjag1 former ,president ,htin ,kyaw    
granted pardons to #bei prisoners1      
including #hi political prisoners4 ,on  
,april #ag1 #bjah1 current ,president   
,win ,myint pardoned #h1eda prisoners1  
including #cf political prisoners4  7#d7
 ,the ,burmese security forces have used
 colonial-era laws to arrest and charge 
political prisoners and prisoners of    

conscience4 ,these laws include but are 
not limited to provisions of the ,penal 
,code1 the ,peaceful ,assembly and      
,peaceful ,procession ,act1 the #aijh   
,unlawful ,associations ,act1 the #bjac 
,telecommunications ,act1 and the #aibc 
,official ,secrets ,act4  7#e7 ,on      
,january #e1 #bjae1 then-,president     
,thein ,sein announced the              
reconstitution of the ,scrutinizing     
,committee into the ,prisoners of       
,conscience ,affairs ,committee1 which  
was to comprise #bh members and which   
would promptly carry out prisoners of   
conscience affairs at the grassroots    
level4 ,however1 the ,committee never   
met and no information has been made    
publicly available regarding its        
mandate1 procedures1 or activities4     
7#f7 ,on ,december #ab1 #bjag1 ,reuters 
reporters ,wa ,lone and ,kyaw ,soe ,oo  
were arrested and charged with violating
 the ,official ,secrets ,act1 continuing
 a trend of restricting media and free  
speech and attempting to thwart coverage

 of the events in ,rakhine ,state4  7#g7
 ,on ,september #c1 #bjah1 ,wa ,lone and
 ,kyaw ,soe ,oo were convicted and      
sentenced to seven years in prison4     
,time ,magazine included pictures of the
 two reporters on the cover of its      
,person of the ,year issue on ,december 
#aj1 #bjah1 as two of the ,guardians and
 the ,war on ,truth4  7#h7 ,according to
 ,burmese free speech organization      
,athan1 #dd journalists and #adb        
activists since #bjaf were charged with 
colonial-era laws used to stifle dissent
 and restrict activist groups and have  
faced trial4  7#i7 ,since ,december     
#bjah1 three ,kachin activists were     
sentenced to six months in prison in    
connection with peaceful antiwar        
protests2 a protester demonstrating     
against the ,myitsone ,dam 7a           
controversial ,chinese-backed hydropower
 project7 was charged for peaceful      
demonstrations1 and police used         
excessive force to crack down on        
peaceful protesters in ,kayah ,state1   

with some of the demonstrators charged  
under vaguely worded1 repressive laws4  
7#aj7 ,on ,august #ah1 #bjag1 ,aung ,ko 
,htwe was arrested because he gave a    
media interview in which he described   
his experience as a child soldier1      
including how the military abducted and 
forcibly recruited him when he was #ac  
years old4 ,he was charged under        
,section #eje7;b7 of ,burma's ,penal    
,code4 ,he faces up to two-and-a-half   
years in jail from the date of his      
conviction4  #c4 ,child soldiers ,it is 
the sense of ,congress that former child
 soldier ,aung ,ko ,htwe should be      
immediately and unconditionally         
released1 and that no one should be     
jailed for freely expressing him or     
herself or for speaking against the use 
of child soldiers4  #d4 ,peaceful       
assembly ,it is the sense of ,congress  
that ,burma must immediately drop       
defamation charges against the three    
,kachin activists1 ,lum ,zawng1 ,nang   
,pu1 and ,zau ,jet1 who led a peaceful  

rally in ,mytkyina1 the capital of      
,kachin ,state in ,april #bjah1 and that
 the prosecution of ,lum ,zawng1 ,nang  
,pu1 and ,zau ,jet is an attempt by the 
,burmese authorities to intimidate1     
harass1 and silence community leaders   
and human rights defenders who speak out
 about military abuses and the impact on
 civilian populations4  #e4 ,press      
freedom ,it is the sense of ,congress   
that ,burma must immediately and        
unconditionally release ,wa ,lone and   
,kyaw ,soe ,oo1 and that the            
imprisonment of these two ,reuters      
journalists for documenting and         
reporting the crimes under international
 law committed against the ,rohingya    
people is a gross injustice4 ,congress  
holds that press freedom is a           
fundamental human right and should be   
upheld and protected in ,burma and      
everywhere4  #f4 ,statement of policy   
,it is the policy of the ,united ,states
 that-- 7#a7 all prisoners of conscience
 and political prisoners in ,burma      

should be unconditionally and           
immediately released2  7#b7 the         
,administration and the ,department of  
,state should use all of their          
diplomatic tools to ensure that all     
prisoners of conscience and political   
prisoners in ,burma are released2 and   
7#c7 the ,burmese ,government should    
repeal or amend all laws that violate   
the rights to freedom of expression1    
peaceful assembly1 or association1 and  
ensure that laws such as the            
,telecommunications ,law of #bjac and   
the ,unlawful ,associations ,act of     
#aijh1 and laws relating to the right to
 peaceful assembly1 all comply with     
international human rights standards4   
#g4 ,political prisoners assistance ,the
 ,secretary of ,state shall provide     
assistance to civil society             
organizations in ,burma that work to    
secure the release of prisoners of      
conscience and political prisoners in   
,burma1 and assistance to current and   
former prisoners of conscience and      

political prisoners in ,burma4 ,such    
assistance shall include the following3 
7#a7 ,support for the documentation of  
human rights violations with respect to 
prisoners of conscience and political   
prisoners4  7#b7 ,support for advocacy  
in ,burma to raise awareness of issues  
relating to prisoners of conscience and 
political prisoners4  7#c7 ,support for 
efforts to repeal or amend laws that are
 used to imprison individuals as either 
prisoners of conscience or political    
prisoners4  7#d7 ,support1 including    
travel costs1 and legal fees1 for       
families of prisoners of conscience and 
political prisoners4  7#e7 ,support for 
health1 including mental health1 and    
post-incarceration assistance in gaining
 access to education and employment     
opportunities or other forms of         
reparation to enable former prisoners of
 conscience and political prisoners to  
resume a normal life4  7#f7 ,the        
creation1 in consultation with former   
political prisoners and prisoners of    

conscience1 their families1 and         
representatives1 of an independent      
prisoner review mechanism in ,burma to  
review the cases of individuals who may 
have been charged or deprived of their  
liberty for peacefully exercising their 
human rights1 review all laws used to   
arrest1 prosecute1 and punish           
individuals as political prisoners and  
prisoners of conscience1 and provide    
recommendations to the ,burmese         
,government for the repeal or amendment 
of all such laws4  #h4 ,definitions ,in 
this ,act3 7#a7 ,prisoner of conscience 
,the term prisoner of conscience means a
 person imprisoned or otherwise         
physically restricted primarily because 
of his or her political1 religious1 or  
other conscientiously held beliefs1     
ethnic origin1 sex1 race1 ethnicity1    
language1 national or social origin1    
economic status1 birth1 sexual          
orientation1 or gender identity1 or for 
exercising his or her right to freedom  
of expression or other human rights1 and

 who has not used violence or advocated 
violence4  7#b7 ,political prisoner ,the
 term political prisoner means a person 
who is arrested1 detained1 or imprisoned
 for political reasons under political  
charges or wrongfully under criminal and
 civil charges because of his or her    
perceived or known active role in1      
perceived or known supporting role in1  
or perceived or known association with  
activities promoting freedom1 justice1  
equality1 human rights1 or civil and    
political rights1 including ethnic      
rights4