With President Biden’s signing of the ‘BURMA Act’ today, the United States signals its intent to hold the Myanmar military accountable for human rights violations and support the struggle for democracy. Together with writers, artists, and human rights defenders, PEN America worked to gain support in Congress for the bill, culminating in a Myanmar delegation from the creative community that traveled to Washington last summer.
A newly-released PEN report highlights the efforts that were made by artists and writers to push through the Burma Act in the USA, which was signed by US President Joe Biden on Friday.
PEN America issued the statement below from Karin Deutsch Kariekar, director of Free Expression at Risk programs, calling for the release of Myanmar writer Wai Moe Naing, who was convicted and sentenced by a military court on Aug. 12 to 10 years in prison on multiple charges of “incitement.”
PEN America, the writers' organisation that fights for freedom of expression for writers and against their persecution made a statement about the Myanmar junta's execution of four pro-democracy activists.