After four hundred hours studies and research works about UNSC mechanism with twenty lawyers, a team of DLA Piper law firm led by Mr. Genser found out Burma case could not be denied at UNSC, he said in February 2007. Now Burma is on the US priority list and international governments are focusing on Burma may also push this decision.
"This is not only freeing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Washington interest is indicating much more," one of the Washington base Burmese activists noted.
Following is Freedom Now press release.
FREEDOM NOW ACHIEVES KEY MILESTONES:
OPENS NEW OFFICE AND HIRES ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Freedom Now is pleased to announce the appointment of its first Acting
Executive Director, Maran Turner. Ms. Turner joins Freedom Now after
working with the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) in Johannesburg,
South Africa. In this capacity, she advised on international human rights law
and supported the efforts of regional lawyers involved in human rights matters
and litigation.
Prior to her position in South Africa, Ms. Turner was an attorney with the
global law firm DLA Piper US LLP. Her extensive human rights work while
with the firm earned her the title Pro Bono Attorney of the Year. While with
the firm, she developed a human rights practice engaged on large complex
matters related to human rights in Asia and the Middle East. In representing
notable figures former Czech Republic President Václav Havel and Nobel
Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu, Ms. Turner was a co-author of the report
Threat to the Peace: A Call for the UN Security Council to Act in Burma.
Based in our new Capitol Hill office in Washington, D.C., Ms. Turner will lead
Freedom Now as it expands its work freeing prisoners of conscience. Most
urgently, Maran will initially seek to raise the funds necessary to ensure stable
operation and essential growth. In bringing greater resources to bear, Freedom
Now will be in a position to extend its network of volunteer lawyers, enhance
its ability to advocate for prisoners of conscience, and most importantly
significantly increase its representational capacity.
“This is truly an exciting milestone for Freedom Now,” said its President Jared
Genser. “We look forward to working with Maran and are excited at the
prospect of being able to help even more people in need,” he added.
“I am truly honored to be coming on board as Acting Executive Director and
look forward to building on Freedom Now's success in securing the release of
prisoners of conscience,” said Maran Turner. Freedom Now is especially
grateful to its former client democracy and human-rights advocate Dr. Yang
Jianli who was imprisoned in China for five years, for having donated office
space to Freedom Now at 533 5th Street, NE, for Ms. Turner and full
complement of summer interns.
