Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03RANGOON724
2003-06-19 08:50:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Rangoon
Cable title:  

AUNG SAN SUU KYI REPORTEDLY BEING HELD IN

Tags:  PREL PHUM BM ASSK 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
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).
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