IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                Contact:  Mary O'Connor (860) 297-4046        
                                                                                                      mary.oconnor@trincoll.edu

Trinity College and Queen Rania of Jordan to Honor
 Imprisoned Burmese Educators with Human Rights Award

Hartford, CT, March 22, 2001 -- Trinity College President Evan S. Dobelle and Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah, Queen of Jordan, will join together on Friday, March 30, in recognizing three imprisoned Burmese educators with the first Trinity College Human Rights Award.  To be presented at a special ceremony at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, the award is intended to draw attention to the courage of educators and students around the world who are in the forefront of human rights movements.

     The honorees - Daw Thida Htway, U Te Tint, and Daw Khin Khin Leh - were arrested in July 1999 with more than a dozen other activists for their efforts to hand out leaflets encouraging the organization of a human rights movement.  They were arrested under vaguely worded provisions of the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act and the 1908 Unlawful Associations Act, frequently used to imprison people for their peaceful political activities in Burma (now known as Myanmar), and all three were condemned in December to sentences ranging from nearly 30 years to life imprisonment.

    "We choose to honor these three people not because they have the heroic, larger-than-life stature of a Nelson Mandela, but precisely because they are ordinary people - educators," said Dobelle.  "Their actions bespeak great courage just as they articulate what is perhaps most at stake when human rights are not protected - the essential acts of citizenship, the common bonds of humanity, life itself."

    The Trinity College Human Rights Program was launched in 1998 and is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation.  "We want to honor academics for standing up for human rights despite the incredible personal risk that they then face," said Maryam Elahi, the Human Rights Program's director.  "It is incumbent upon us to try and reach out in solidarity and support our colleagues.  We can only hope that by calling for the release of these three educators, acknowledging their suffering and supporting their quest for justice and the rule of law, we will draw both national and international attention to the struggle that such individuals face each day and reaffirm our commitment as a college community to promoting human rights awareness."

    Designed and created by Trinity Associate Professor of Fine Arts Patricia Tillman, the Human Rights Award is a cast and fabricated bronze sculpture presented as an object of hope and determination and symbolizing a network of humanity that provides strength and support for human rights causes around the world.  Accepting the Trinity Award on behalf of the educators will be Zar Ni - a former English teacher from Mandalay and the founder of the Free Burma Coalition, which links dissidents-in-exile and supporters of Burmese democracy in 28 countries.

    "Burma's ruling junta is destroying the country's future by jailing Burmese educators and students who work for freedom and democracy and by shutting down the country's educational institutions for years on end.  Trinity College is the first university in the world that has chosen to honor these jailed Burmese teachers whose only crime was that they stood up for their belief in freedom," said Zar Ni, currently a professor of education at the National College of Education in Chicago.  "Trinity's Human Rights Award will highlight this tragic situation in Burma and rally international support to end it."

    Her Majesty Queen Rania, First Lady of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is known for her commitment to human rights issues, especially those affecting women and children.  She will join with Dobelle and Elahi in honoring the three educators.  "Their courage in the face of oppression and their selfless commitment to democracy are truly admirable," Queen Rania said.  "I hope that by focusing on their case we will draw attention to the plight of the many others around the world who are being persecuted and made victims of injustice.  I commend the Trinity College Human Rights Program for its work in involving higher education more effectively in making the world a place where justice rules and where human dignity thrives."

    Born in Kuwait to a notable Jordanian family of Palestinian origin, Queen Rania is married to His Majesty King Abdullah Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan.  She chairs the Royal Commission on Human Rights.  In November 2000, Queen Rania joined with world leaders, including Nelson Mandela, in the UNICEF Global Leadership Initiative organized to improve the treatment of children worldwide.

THE HONOREES

Daw Thida Htway – an elementary school teacher, was arrested for her political activities, which included organizing a human rights movement and the 1999 democracy uprising.  She was sentenced to life imprisonment for her involvement with the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF),

U Ye Tint – a private tutor and formerly a widely respected high school teacher, was accused of political affiliations with the ABSDF and exile opposition groups.  He was sentenced to 29 years imprisonment.

Daw Khin Khin Leh – a teacher in her early 30’s was arrested with her three-year-old daughter, Thaint Wunna Khin.  She is married to Kyaw Wanna, a noted political activist and member of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, which has taken a leading role in peaceful opposition.  When the Burmese authorities were unable to locate and arrest Wanna for his role in planning a peaceful demonstration, they arrested instead his wife and daughter.  While her daughter has been released, Ma Khin Khin Leh was sentenced to life imprisonment.  She suffers from an unspecified lung problem, and it is not known if she is receiving medical care.                

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