AUNG SAN SUU KYI REPORTEDLY BEING HELD IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000724 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP AND DRL USMISSION NEW YORK FOR AMBASSADOR TWINING CDR USPACOM FOR FPA E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2013 TAGS: PREL PHUM BM ASSK SUBJECT: AUNG SAN SUU KYI REPORTEDLY BEING HELD IN RANGOON'S INSEIN PRISON REF: A. KUALA LUMPUR 3628 ¶B. RANGOON 682 ¶C. AND PREVIOUS Classified By: COM CARMEN MARTINEZ. REASON 1.5(D). 1) (C) Summary: Leon de Reidmatten (Special Envoy Razali's liaison in Rangoon) informed COM and EU Ambassadors that, according to the SE, Aung San Suu Kyi (ASSK) was in Insein Prison in Rangoon. ASSK told Razali she believed that she was being held under the provisions of Section 10(a) of a 1975 law titled "Law to Safeguard the State Against the Dangers of Subversive Elements". This law allows for the "detaining and arresting" of an individual, and holding that individual for up to five years in a detention facility. ASSK has never been held under 10(a) before. Her previous periods of detention were under house arrest. De Reidmatten said he has already informed ICRC that ASSK is being held in Insein prison, but he added that he did not believe ICRC would be successful in seeing her any time soon. End Summary. 2) (C) Leon de Reidmatten (Special Envoy Razali's liaison in Rangoon) briefed the COM, and the French, German, Italian and UK ambassadors on Thursday, June 19, upon his return from meeting with the SE in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, June 17. He told the group that, according to the SE, the site of Razali's meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon was Insein Prison. He said that ASSK was being held in a special freestanding two-room cell, with toilet facilities, that had been built specifically for her in the mid- 1990's, although she has never occupied it before (Note: de Reidmatten actually saw this structure when he was visiting Insein in connection with his previous job with the ICRC. End Note). ASSK is being guarded by three female prison guards. 3) (C) Razali told de Reidmatten that ASSK said she believed she was being held under the provisions of Section 10(a) of a 1975 law titled "Law to Safeguard the State Against the Dangers of Subversive Elements". This law allows for the "detaining and arresting" of an individual, and holding that individual for up to five years in a detention facility (Note: in practice, many prisoners are held longer under 10(a) and it is also used to detain prisoners even after they have completed their formal sentences. End Note). Another section of this law, Section 10(b),allows for the "restraining" of individuals for up to one year under house arrest, but the period can be extended, as has been the case previously with ASSK (Note: the ten members of the NLD Central Executive Committee are (CEC) are apparently being held under this provision, confirming what the guards in front of two of the CEC members' houses let slip to COM when she tried to visit on June 1. End Note). 4) (C) Although we do not know on what ASSK bases her belief that she and the members of the CEC (and possibly many others),are being held in order to "Safeguard the State", the regime's clumsy pretense that they are under "protective custody" is ridiculous and insulting. In response to direct questioning by the COM on several occasions, both privately and publicly, the Deputy Foreign Minister and the Minister of Home Affairs denied that ASSK or the members of the CEC are under arrest. Perhaps technically, this is true - perhaps they are being detained or restrained and not arrested. But the fact is they are prisoners, and probably will be for a long time. 5) (C) De Reidmatten told COM he wrote to the Minister of Home Affairs to ask if ASSK was being held under 10(a),but the Minister has not confirmed, denied, or clarified the conditions of her detention. De Reidmatten said he has already informed ICRC that ASSK is being held in Insein prison, but he added that he did not believe ICRC would be successful in seeing her any time soon. 6) (C) Comment: The briefing from de Reidmatten is the first time that anyone in the group had heard from Razali as to ASSK's specific location or conditions of detention. This is also the first time that we have heard that ASSK told Razali she believed that she was being held under 10(a). ASSK has never been held under 10(a) before. Her previous periods of detention were house arrest under the provisions of 10 (b). "Detaining and arresting" ASSK under Section 10(a) would signal that the regime may be determined to retain a tight grip on her and the NLD for a very long time to come and does nothing to support their claims of commitment to the process of national reconciliation. End Comment. Martinez