POLITICAL PRISONER SU SU NWE REPORTEDLY ILL

C O N F I D E N T I A L RANGOON 000210 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP AND IO; PACOM FOR FPA E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/06/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM BM SUBJECT: POLITICAL PRISONER SU SU NWE REPORTEDLY ILL Classified By: P/E Chief Jennifer Harhigh for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: The health of political prisoner Su Su Nwe is reportedly deteriorating. We have confirmed that the regime allowed her medical treatment by a general practitioner but not by a specialist. The labor activist, who suffers from a congenital heart problem, is imprisoned in Kalay Prison, approximately 700 miles from Rangoon. She will be visited this week by her sister. End summary. ¶2. (C); Further to external media reports, Su Su Nwe's sister recently told National League for Democracy (NLD) members that the imprisoned labor activist, herself an NLD member, has been seriously ill for about;four weeks.; NLD spokesman Nyan Win told us that Su Su Nwe's elder sister, Ma Htay Htay Kyi, left Rangoon April 3 to visit the prominent labor activist at Kalay Prison in Sagaing Division. While there, Ma Htay Htay Kyi will also meet with her sister's lawyer Daw Khin Htay Kywe. Nyan Win also confirmed that authorities have permitted Su Su Nwe to receive medical treatment outside the prison, but only from a general medical practitioner, not a specialist. Su Su Nwe's sister is expected to return to Rangoon on April 10; we will pursue a meeting with her to follow up on Su Su Nwe's condition. ¶3. (SBU);Su Su Nwe has a congenital heart ailment and other health problems that have been exacerbated by her imprisonment, according to the NLD.;She was arrested on November 13, 2007 for allegedly participating in pro-democracy protests in August and September that year. In November 2008 she was sentenced to 12 and a half years' imprisonment, which later was reduced to eight and a half years. In 2005 Su Su Nwe became one of the first Burmese nationals to successfully bring a criminal case against government officials when a suburban Rangoon court convicted two local officials based on her reports of forced labor. ¶4. (SBU) While visiting Insein Prison in August 2008, UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Tomas Ojea Quintana met with Su Su Nwe and noted that she depends on heart medication supplied to her by family members, most of whom live in Rangoon. In November 2008, she was transferred from Insein to Kalay Prison in Sagaing Division, approximately 700 miles north of Rangoon. DINGER