ALL BURMA MONKS’ ALLIANCE

1517 Elm Street

Utica, NY 13501
May There Be No Deception of One Another
May Loving Kindness Envelop the World and May There be Peace on Earth

Senator Jim Webb September 30, 2009

Chairman
Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
United States of America

Senator Webb,

On behalf of the All Burma Monks’ Alliance, which was an instrumental in staging peaceful protests of
Buddhist Monks in Burma in September 2007, I would like to submit an article written by me which is
attached for the official record of the hearing you will chair on September 30, 2009, 2:30 pm at 419
Dirksen Office Building.

I am greatly disappointed that no Buddhist Monks or members of Burma’s democracy movement were
invited to testify in this hearing. The Burmese military regime has attempted to silence our voices, and
this hearing would have presented a strong opportunity for the Senate to hear directly from the legitimate
leaders of Burma.

I was in prison twice: three years between 1990 and 1993, and seven years between 1998 and 2005. I was
arrested, severely tortured, forcibly disrobed and unfairly imprisoned for my peaceful activities, joining
together with my fellow monks in calling for the regime to stop human rights violations in Burma and to
start a meaningful and time-bound dialogue with the democratic opposition, led by Nobel Peace Prize
recipient Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

I was a founding member of the All Burma Monks’ Alliance (ABMA), which led the peaceful protest of
monks and nuns in Burma in September 2007. As you are aware, Burma’s military regime brutally
crushed the monks’ movement, killed many monks and arrested and imprisoned many more. I managed to
escape to the Thailand-Burma border and then reached the United States as a refugee.

I wrote this article in August when you visited Burma, met with the dictator Than Shwe, and brought Mr.
Yettaw back from the prison. I hope my opinion, which is also shared by my fellow monks inside and
outside Burma, will be included in the subcommittee’s examination of the effectiveness of U.S. policy
toward Burma.

Sincerely yours,

Venerable Ashin Pyinya Zawta

Executive Director in Exile
All Burma Monks’ Alliance
1517 Elm Street, Utica, NY 13501
http://allburmamonksalliance.org/

For more information regarding The All Burma Monks’ Alliance Corporation, visit our website
at: www.allburmamonksalliance.org

The All Burma Monks’ Alliance is a not-for-profit organization registered in the

State of New York, but donations are not yet eligible for federal tax deductions.
CONTRIBUTOR

Webb’s Misguided Views

By U PYINYA ZAWTA

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 at The Irrawaddy

http://www.irrawaddy.org/opinion_story.php?art_id=16637&page=2

August 31, 2009 at The Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/u-pyinya-zawta/jim-webb-woefully-unaware_b_273166.html

US Sen Jim Webb recently traveled to Burma to lean not on Burma's military regime, but to
pressure my country's democracy movement into giving up economic sanctions—the most
important tool in our struggle for freedom.

Although he emphasized the necessity of the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, this falls far short of
the demands of the US, the United Nations and the European Union for the immediate and
unconditional release of all my country's 2,100 political prisoners.

Webb's ignorance of the situation in my country was revealed his book "A Time to Fight" in
which he came down squarely on the side of the oppressors in Burma. He wrote about the
demonstrations which took place in Burma in 2007, led by Buddhist monks such as myself.

"If Westerners had remained in the country this moment might never have occurred, because it is
entirely possible that conditions may have improved rather than deteriorated."

Webb's statement is either shockingly naïve or willfully misleading. We Buddhist monks, who
Webb discounts as a "throng," marched for an end to military dictatorship in Burma not because
we wanted marginal improvements in our economy. We marched because we believe in freedom
and democracy and are willing to make sacrifices to reach those goals.

Webb claims that the Burmese people would benefit from interaction with the outside world, as
if we need to be condescendingly "taught" by Americans about our rights and responsibilities.
Had Webb spent some time with real Burmese people apart from the military regime and others
who share his views, he would better understand the sacrifice we made for democracy, and he
would know that we Burmese value the longstanding support we have had from the US
Congress.

Webb, an author, has proven extremely manipulative in his use of language, calling for
"engagement" and "interaction" instead of sanctions. His implication is that the Burmese people
are solely set on sanctions and confrontation—the exact same language used by Burma's military
regime, which couldn't be further from the truth. The truth is that the world is not as black and
white as Webb would have it. We want the United States to talk to and negotiate with Burma's
military regime, but this shouldn't preclude increasing international pressure. The US appears to
be able to carry out this policy with other countries such as in North Korea where it is willing to
talk to the North Koreans while at the same time increasing sanctions if Pyongyang doesn't
respond. Webb is intent on driving a wedge into this process in the case of Burma. We must
2
choose, he explains, between sanctions and engagement—there can be no sophisticated strategy,
only complete involvement or none at all.

What Webb proposes—lifting sanctions on Burma—translates to basically handing over the

Burmese peoples' natural resources to rapacious multinational corporations, particularly Big Oil.
If the US lifts sanctions on Burma, there will be a rush of companies into Burma intent on
looting my country's natural heritage and the benefits of such "engagement" will flow directly to
the military regime.

In terms of human rights, Webb has remained focused only on Suu Kyi's freedom and ability to
participate in scheduled elections in Burma, never mind the fact that the Burmese regime has
already rigged the elections so that no matter who participates there will be many more decades
of complete military rule.

The new constitution is an air-tight document that gives no room whatsoever for reform from
within. At the same time, Webb has completely ignored the purposeful, massive human rights
violations carried out by Burma's military regime. The human rights nightmare in Burma
includes the recruitment of tens of thousands of child soldiers, pressing hundreds of thousands of
Burmese into forced labor and the widespread rape of ethnic minority women.

Luckily for the Burmese people, Webb is not the only US senator. Recently, the US Senate voted
unanimously to extend sanctions on Burma. President Obama signed the bill into law.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is a student of politics and more likely to examine the facts on
the ground instead of falling for blanket ideological generalizations. While Webb may seek to
sell out Aung San Suu Kyi, our courageous Buddhist monks, and all the people of Burma, we
hold out hope that Secretary Clinton and President Obama will take a more nuanced view in
formulating policy toward Burma.

In particular, the US should seek to negotiate with Burma's military regime—but, at the same
time, carry forward along the lines of the advice offered by South Africa's Nobel Peace Prize
recipient Desmond Tutu: seek a global arms embargo on Burma's military regime, start a UN
Security Council investigation into crimes against humanity committed by the regime, and begin
the process to full implementation of financial sanctions against the regime and its cronies.

Webb is now despised by the people of Burma. If he succeeds in achieving a shift in US policy
to abandon sanctions, he will have secured his place in history as one of the
most important supporters of Than Swe's military dictatorship.

U Pyinya Zawta, Buddhist monk, was actively involved in the 1988 demonstrations. He was
sentenced to three years in prison in 1990 and again sentenced to seven years in 1998. He is one
of the founding members of the All Burma Monks' Alliance (ABMA) which lead the 2007 Saffron
Revolution. He is now in exile in New York after fleeing the country due to the threat of arrest.