,,ii  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #bjfi  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,july #aj1     
#bjai ,mr4 ,markey 7for himself and     
,mrs4 ,blackburn7 introduced the        
following bill2 which was read twice and
 referred to the ,committee on ,foreign 
,relations  ,a ,,bill  ,to assist       
prisoners of conscience 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 ,the ,united   
,states has been a longstanding friend  
and partner of the people of ,burma1 and
 has sought to promote their democratic 
aspirations4  7#b7 ,despite a campaign  
pledge that ,aung ,san ,suu ,kyi and the
 ,national ,league for ,democracy       
7,,nld7 would not arrest anyone as      
political prisoners1 they 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#c7 ,as of ,march #a1  
#bjai1 there were #ced political        
prisoners in ,burma1 #dc of them serving
 sentences1 #hf awaiting trial inside   
prison1 and #bbe awaiting trial outside 
prison according to the ,assistance     
,association for ,political ,prisoners  
in ,burma4  7#d7 ,during its #c 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#e7
 ,the ,burmese security forces have     
historically and recently used a range  
of repressive laws to arrest and        
prosecute political prisoners and       
prisoners of conscience4 ,these laws    

include 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#f7 ,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 it appears that the    
,committee never even met and no        
information has been made publicly      
available regarding its mandate1        
procedures1 or activities4 ,the lack of 
information and action appears to       
justify concerns that the ,committee had
 been reconstituted merely to deflect   
growing national and international      
criticism1 rather than to resolve the   
issue of remaining political prisoners4 

7#g7 ,on ,december #ab1 #bjag1 ,wa ,lone
 and ,kyaw ,soe ,oo1 two ,reuters       
reporters covering the crisis in        
,rakhine ,state1 were entrapped1        
arrested1 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#h7
 ,on ,september #c1 #bjah1 ,wa ,lone and
 ,kyaw ,soe ,oo were convicted and      
sentenced to seven years in prison4     
,after #ah months in prison1 they were  
released from prison4 ,on ,may #bh1     
#bjah1 ,wa ,lone and ,kyaw ,soe ,oo     
personally received the ,pulitzer ,prize
 that was awarded to them while they    
were imprisoned4  7#i7 ,according to    
,burma free-speech organization ,athan1 
#dd journalists and #adb activists have 
faced trial since #bjaf1 charged with   
repressive laws used to stifle dissent  
at the same time restrictions on        
activist groups are being tightened4 ,in
 the first three months of #bjai1 three 

,kachin activists were each sentenced to
 six months in prison in connection with
 peaceful anti-war protests1 a protester
 against the ,myitsone dam 7a           
controversial ,chinese backed-hydropower
 project7 was charged for peaceful      
demonstrations1 and police used         
excessive force to crackdown on peaceful
 protesters in ,kayah ,state1 with some 
of the demonstrators charged under      
vaguely worded1 repressive laws4 ,one of
 the activists1 ,nang ,pu1 was released 
on ,april #a1 #bjai1 on health grounds4 
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 
was subsequently sentenced to two years 
and six months in prison4  #c4          
,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7        
,prisoner of conscience ,the term       

prisoner of conscience means any person 
who--  7,a7 is imprisoned or otherwise  
physically restricted solely for the    
peaceful exercise of his or her human   
rights2 and  7,b7 has not used violence 
or advocated violence or hatred4  7#b7  
,political prisoner ,the term political 
prisoner applies to a person who has    
been detained or imprisoned on          
politically motivated grounds4          
,political prisoners may have used or   
advocated violence or hatred1 or in some
 cases they may have committed some     
minor offense1 which is a pretext for a 
politically motivated imprisonment4  #d4
 ,statement of policy ,it is the policy 
of the ,united ,states-- 7#a7 to support
 ,burma's democratic transition to a    
democratic1 peaceful1 and prosperous    
state2  7#b7 that prisoners of          
conscience and political prisoners in   
,burma should be unconditionally and    
immediately released and all charges or 
other proceedings against them should be
 abandoned2  7#c7 to use all diplomatic 

tools to ensure that all prisoners of   
conscience and political prisoners in   
,burma are released2 and  7#d7 to       
support and pressure the ,government of 
,burma in the repeal and amendment of   
all laws that violate the rights to     
freedom of expression1 peaceful         
assembly1 and association to ensure the 
laws described in section #b7e7 comply  
with international human rights         
standards4  #e4 ,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 to current and former      
prisoners of conscience and political   
prisoners in ,burma4 ,assistance shall  
include the following activities3  7#a7 
,support for the documentation of human 
rights violations with respect to       
prisoners of conscience and politically 
motivated 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 delegation of specific 
,united ,states mission staff who will  
observe trials in politically motivated 
cases4  #f4 ,sense of ,congress on child
 soldiers ,it is the sense of ,congress 
that-- 7#a7 former child soldier ,aung  
,ko ,htwe should be immediately and     
unconditionally released2 and  7#b7 no  
one should be in jail for freely        

expressing themselves nor for speaking  
against the military's atrocious use of 
child soldiers in any arena4  #g4 ,sense
 of ,congress on peaceful assembly ,it  
is the sense of ,congress that-- 7#a7   
the ,government of ,burma must          
immediately drop defamation charges     
against ,lum ,zawng and ,zau ,jet1 two  
,kachin activists who led a peaceful    
rally in ,mytkyina1 the capital of      
,kachin ,state1 whose crime is          
peacefully calling for humanitarian     
access to thousands of displaced        
civilians and for an end to the armed   
conflicts in northern ,burma2 and  7#b7 
the prosecution of these activists 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 of civilian       
populations4  #h4 ,sense of ,congress on
 press freedom ,it is the sense of      
,congress that-- 7#a7 the ,government of
 ,burma must take steps to significantly

 improve the climate for journalists1   
including ending the enforcement of     
draconian laws that restrict the freedom
 of expression and releasing all        
journalists imprisoned for fulfilling   
their professional responsibilities2    
7#b7 press freedom is a fundamental     
human right and should be upheld and    
protected in ,burma and everywhere2 and 
7#c7 to lock up journalists harkens back
 to the days of military junta rule4