The New York Times - Letter to the Editor: Burmese Justice

The New York Times - Letter to the Editor: Burmese Justice
Published: February 6, 2009
Related Op-Ed Columnist: Sneaking In Where Thugs Rule (February 5, 2009)

Re “Sneaking In Where Thugs Rule” (column, Feb. 5):

On behalf of monks and nuns inside Myanmar, which we still call Burma, I applaud Nicholas D. Kristof’s call for new actions against the “odious” regime ruling our country.

Burmese monks and nuns were brutally attacked by the military during peaceful protest in September 2007. Senior Gen. Than Shwe exacted vengeance against all protesters, shooting and killing many and arbitrarily imprisoning monks and political activists (issuing sentences ranging from 4 to 104 years in prison).

Mr. Kristof calls for new approaches. We monks are not politicians, but it is our religious duty to try our best to help relieve the suffering of our people, and we consider justice an old approach that has eluded the junta.

The world has an International Criminal Court, and the United Nations Security Council has the power to refer Burma to it. This call for justice is not a new approach. It is a basic human right.

Ashin Nayaka
New York, Feb. 5, 2009

The writer, a visiting scholar at Columbia University, is a leading member of the International Burmese Monk Association.