While reports of Monks being persecuted and arrested in Burma abound, reports about what is happening to female dissidents is much less common. It is critically important that we be aware that women are also involved in fighting tyranny in Burma. Kudos to the Washington Post for covering the detention of Su Su Nway:
According to the Washington Post, Su Su Nway, 35, along with a leader of the All-Burma Monks Alliance
“was detained yesterday as she was putting up leaflets next to a Rangoon hotel where U.N. human rights investigator Paulo Sergio Pinheiro was staying. He arrived in Burma on Sunday to survey human rights violations in the wake of a bloody crackdown by the junta, but his presence in the country, which the ruling generals call Myanmar, did not deter troops from continuing to take more prisoners.”
“Su Su Nway, a labor activist, stood up for labor rights in defiance of the military government two years ago and has been in and out of jail several times. She is best known in human rights circles for winning a historic court ruling against local government officials in 2005 by invoking international labor standards.
Her activism began when government officials forced her and her neighbors to repair a village road without pay. In bringing her complaint, she relied on a 1999 law that allowed reporting on labor rights abuses to the International Labor Organization. The army often uses civilians as porters and forces them to walk ahead of soldiers to test for mines.
Su Su Nway’s legal victory was the first against the junta’s long-standing practice of forced labor. But in its aftermath, Su Su Nway, who suffers from a heart condition, was sentenced to 18 months in prison on charges of defaming authorities. Her struggle was recognized last year with the John Humphrey Freedom Award, named after a McGill University law professor. She had quietly remained in regular contact with journalists until her cellphone was disconnected in early September.
Because of her frail condition, she went underground during the recent crackdown, emerging only rarely. On Oct. 27, she laid flowers at the spot where Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai was gunned down by security forces while recording video of demonstrators in Rangoon.”
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