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

[justinm at ucr.edu]

Dear All,

Based on responses by there seems to be three actions that we need to take at that time.

1) As Charles Keyes suggests, a letter of condolence needs to be sent to Roxanna Brown's son (as well as other members of his family including her brother in Chicago). Robert Brown, 
Nhung Tuyet Tran, Barbara Gaerlan, Pattaratorn Chirapravati, Melody Rodari, Caverlee Cary among others have volunteered to write that letter. I imagine that they can coordinate writing that letter tonight. Once that letter is drafted, it can be sent to the TLC and VSG lists for signatures. If this is too difficult and no one on either list contacts me directly protesting their signature being attached to the condolence letter, then I (with the executive committee of VSG) can compile a list of names in both groups to attached to the bottom of the letter. This letter can be sent electronically to her family members to give them moral support. If I receive mailing addresses, I can also send hardcopies to her family members. Please contact me when the letter of condolence has been completed. I will send it out to the VSG and TLC lists.

2) Generating funds to help Roxanna's son Jamie fly to the U.S. and to pay for the cremation and funeral arrangements in Thailand. Melody Rodari has kindly started this fund. It may be easier to send checks to either the VSG or TLC accounts (can VSG handle this? I think you are bigger than us). We do not have dues in the TLC, so we just collect donations once a year a the TLC meeting. However, I am willing to receive checks, place them into the TLC account and then coordinate, with Melody, sending them to her son. I will wait to hear from Melody and the VSG executive board before sending out a call for donations. Please contact me soon. I will do what is most efficient. 

3) Sending a concerned letter of request for a formal inquiry into the circumstances of her death to her family's lawyer. As suggested by Charles Keyes below. It seems to be most efficient to send the letter with a list of names of concerned colleagues as friend versus organizing something with the AAS. I have received several e-mails from people in VSG and TLC who said that they would be willing to attach their name to the letter. I think that this type of letter cannot simply have the names of the TLC/VSG members attached. Therefore, we would have to get individual e-mails from the members who would be willing to attach their names. Some of us, off list, have received additional information about the autopsy, legal matters, and the like. This information and the information already gathered by Biff Keyes needs to be put together. Then a letter to the proper authorities, legal team, family members needs to be drafted. I will contact people offlist who have volunteered to coor!
!
dinate the writing of this letter. Once it is written, we can send a request to the members of TLC/VSG to attach their names to it.   

Thank you for all of your help. More soon,
justin


______________

>
>   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
>