[Tlc] [Vsg] Fw: [Aaup] UW Guest Speaker Dies at SeaTac Detention Center

[Charles Keyes]

I would like to begin by expressing my profound condolences to Roxanna's son, Jaime, and her brother Fred Leo Brown for their tragic loss.

I have met Roxanna on many occasions over the years at conferences and when we were both living in Chiang Mai. She was one of the leading art historians working on the ceramics of Southeast Asia and her contributions based on research of ceramics from shipwrecks are of major significance. The suddeness of her death would have been traumatic in and of itself, but the circumstances make it not only a tragedy but primo facie a case of horrible injustice.

I was very sorry to be away from Seattle when the conference she was invited to took place as I had looked forward to her presentation. As it turned out that presentation was aborted because of the events which members of the Thailand/Laos/Cambodia and Vietnam Studies listserve have become well acquainted. But perhaps some facts bear repeating.

Roxanna was invited to a conference on "Maritime Asia in the Early Modern World" sponsored by the East Asian Studies Center at the University of Washington. The conference was held at UW on May 10th. On Friday, before she could participate in the conference, she was arrested. According to the Seattle Post-Intellingcer (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/363131_antiquities15.html), "She was the first person arrested as part of a five-year, undercover investigation into smuggled Thai artifacts at some Southern California museums and galleries." The P-I story notes that "An affidavit filed in the case said Jonathan and Cari Markell -- the owners of one of the California galleries -- had used Brown's electronic signature several times to falsify appraisal forms. In one case, an appraisal for items to be donated to the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena indicated Brown had inspected the items." What is very curious is that the Markells have yet to be charged, while Roxanna was arrested. So, one question to include in any petition is why she was arrested when those she was accused of assisting in art smuggling have not been? After her arrest, Roxanna was placed in the Federal Detention Center at SEATAC (Seattle-Tacoma) airport (2425 South 200 Street
Seatac, WA). While at at the Detention Center, Roxanna fell ill, but according to the P-I account the Center did not release information about the health screening she was given when placed in the Center. The P-I account reported that she was unable to appear in court on Monday, but did do so on Tuesday. Again, there are no public reports on her appearance in court. The Center reported her death on Wednesday and according to the Seattle Times (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004415548_loot15m.html) "an autopsy was performed by the King County Medical Examiner's Office on Wednesday", but as of my writing this I have seen no report on what the autopsy found. The presumption is tht she died of a heart attack. A second question that needs to be included in a petition is why if she were ill on Monday did she not receive medical attention? Further, were her family notified of her ill health and, if not, why not?

It has been suggested that a petition be sent to the Association for Asian Studies asking for support of the association in seeking a proper inquiry into Roxanna's detention and death. I certainly support such a petition, but (as a former president of AAS) I do not think it is necessary or even useful to go through the AAS. Those members of AAS who know Roxanna and her work are most likely subscribers to the listserves of the T/L/C or VSG and it is they, as the exchanges the past couple of days reveal, are going to be most interested in supporting an inquiry into her detention and death. I think that such a petition should be sent to the relevant authorities in Seattle with a copy to the lawyer(s) which it appears the family has retained. I would like to ask Barbara Gaerlan and Nhung Tuyet Tran who were classmates/friends of Roxanna at UCLA to work with me in drafting such a petition. I welcome any other input others may wish to contribute to this process. Once we have a petition completed, we will seek signatures through the T/L/C and VSG listserves.

We will need the names and addresses of officials at the Federal Detention Center in Seattle to whom the petition should be sent. I have yet to identify such officials and although I have some queries out, I would also appreciate any help anyone receiving this message can provide. We also need the name and addresses of the lawyer(s) for the family. 

I want to close by emphasizing for Roxanna's family that we as her fellow scholars and friends will try to do what we can to press for a full and open inquiry.

Yours,

Charles (Biff) Keyes
Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and International Studies
Department of Anthropology
Box 353100
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195-3100
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