Trial in Thailand ends peacefully

Mennonite Central Committee
Wednesday, 20 December 2000

Last February, Thai police raided the office of Burma Issues, a human rights organization in Bangkok, Thailand, supported by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). One MCC worker, Max Ediger, of Turpin, Okla., was charged with harboring illegal immigrants. Ediger was held for one day, then released on bail. Police detained, questioned and released two other MCC workers and nine Burmese trainees.

Burma Issues helps Burmese refugees develop creative and non-violent ways to end the war and oppression in their communities. Burma's more than 60 minority ethnic groups have struggled through civil war and military rule since 1948. Most who come to Burma Issues for help cannot receive legal travel documents to Bangkok, where the office is located.

The police raid in February followed the death of a young Burmese rebel soldier killed in Thailand when he helped seize a hospital. The young man had crossed the border illegally and was found with a Burma Issues publication in his pocket. He was not involved with Burma Issues, although some trainees do come from counter-insurgency groups.

After seven months of spotty court hearings, Ediger pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year in prison and a $370 Cdn./$250 U.S. fine. The court suspended both the prison sentence and fine, however, determining Ediger to be of good character and Burma Issues work "beneficial to Thai society and the people."

"Thai friends have a way of keeping spirits up," Ediger says. Those who visited Ediger during those months of uncertainty "didn't come to worry, they came to celebrate." Their presence and support kept Ediger's hopes alive during the ordeal.

Hope is always crucial to Burma Issues work, which also includes research and documentation of human rights abuses in Burma, various publications and literacy and education programs.

Since the February raid, Burma Issue has moved its trainings with Burmese refugees out of Bangkok to the Burma/Thailand border. Fewer resources and research materials are available there, but the move makes this work less controversial.

The staff also plan to register Burma Issues with the Thai government. "We have never been an underground organization," says Ediger, but registering with the government will make future raids less likely and will reaffirm Burma Issues' commitment to peace work.

For more information, or to contact Mennonite Central Committee, see their website at: www.mcc.org