Burma’s Prisoner Release Concluded

By THE IRRAWADDY Thursday, October 13, 2011

The Burmese Ministry of Home Affairs said that all of the 6,359 prisoners subject to the amnesty program announced this week by President Thein Sein were released on Wednesday.

The prisoners released included 220 political prisoners, which activists say is a small number compared to the around 2,000 political prisoners being held in Burmese prisons at the time of the release.

An official from the Ministry of Home Affairs, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the released political prisoners were not given any special instructions and the ministry can’t say when there will be another amnesty in the future.

Toe Kyaw Hlaing, one of the leaders of a Rangoon-based group that is organizing a signature campaign for the release of political prisoners, said that many of the political prisoners that were released on Wednesday were close to finishing their sentence.

He also said that many prominent pro-democracy activists and ethnic leaders are still behind bars, and his group will make a survey of the political prisoners who remain incarcerated and will submit their results to pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

“The remaining political prisoners could be a barricade to the government reforming and bringing democracy to the country, so we will start the signature campaign and submit the petition to President Thein Sein,” said Toe Kyaw Hlaing.

Four members of the 88 Generation Students group were included in the release on Wednesday: Ko Ko Gyi (aka) Thein Than Tun, Zaw Htet Ko Ko, Lay Lay Mon and Myint Lwin Oo (aka) Thar Gyi.

The Thailand-based Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP) released a statement on Thursday stating that the Thein Sein administration attempted to appease the international community by offering its second so-called amnesty. The statement said that although on the 11th of October the announcement was made that 6,359 prisoners would be released, no public information about the actual numbers released has been made accessible.

“AAPP has been monitoring the October 12 prisoner release and we have learned that 220 political prisoners have been freed so far. Many other prominent political prisoners such as Min Ko Naing, U Khun Tun Oo, U Gambira and so on were not included among those released,” the statement said.

The AAPP also said that the prisoner release was not satisfactory and that “we would like to urge the international community to persuade U Thein Sein’s government for the recognition of the existence of political prisoners, and for the unconditional release of all political prisoners under a dignified way.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special envoy on human rights in Burma, told Reuters that some of the most important dissidents had not been released, more than 1,000 prisoners of conscience remained behind bars and many more prisoners need to free before the end of the year.

“What I have seen in my last mission in August is that there are real opportunities for change and there are new institutions being built,” Quintana said, adding that he will submit a report to the UN General Assembly next Wednesday.

The First Delivery of the Campaign Postcards

September 27, 2011

Burmese and Thai activists and individuals gathered in front of the Myanmar Embassy (Burmese Embassy) to commemorate the 4th anniversary of the Saffron Movement in Burma at 11 am on September 27, 2011.

The members from the Campaign for Releasing Women Political Prisoners in Burma joined the event and delivered the first collection of the campaign postcards to the responsible person at Myanmar Embassy. The joint statement was released and the activity ended peacefully after an hour.

The Campaign Committee is planning to send more postcards with the written comments to the embassy again on November 7, 2011.

We would like to thank to Ko Myo Thent for sharing some photographs.

CRITERIA FOR AAPP’S DEFINITION OF A POLITICAL PRISONER

Information Release
Date: September 30, 2011

AAPP defines a political prisoner as anyone who is arrested because of his or her perceived or real active involvement or supporting role in political movements with peaceful or resistant means. AAPP maintains that the motivation behind the arrest of every individual in AAPP’s database is political, regardless of the laws they have been sentenced under.

The State Law Order Restoration Council and State Peace Development Council denied the existence of political prisoners; a denial reiterated by the current Thein Sein administration. Due to this, those who are in real or perceived opposition to the regime are routinely criminalized. For example, the authorities have repeatedly used false, tenuous, or trumped-up criminal charges to imprison political activists, journalists, students, and those in real or perceived opposition to the regime. To distinguish political prisoners from criminal offenders, AAPP considers the individual’s actions rather than their alleged charges. In short, the motivation behind the arrest must be political.

Rumors of an impending amnesty have been gaining traction after Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin’s recent claims to the United Nations General Assembly that an amnesty will be forthcoming at an “appropriate time in the near future .” His statements make no mention of political prisoners. If the administration is to grant a general amnesty, it must include the unconditional release of political prisoners and a wiping of their criminal records.

AAPP welcomes the release of any political prisoner, but in the absence of the rule of law, in the face of an impartial judiciary and laws that criminalize basic civil and political rights, political activists as well as ordinary people will face the ongoing threat of arrest. A future amnesty must be motivated by genuine political will if the Thein Sein administration were to shore up any credibility in the eyes of the international community.

Note: In support of the national reconciliation process and a genuine democratic transition, AAPP does not discriminate against those who participated in the armed struggle or were wrongfully convicted with criminal charges. AAPP uses the term political prisoner as a blanket phrase for all those who have been imprisoned for participating in the struggle for democracy and national reconciliation.

Downloda >>> Detail & Laws commonly used to arbitrarily detain activists or criminalize dissent
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Messages in the Postcards.....

Here are some messages that people from different world wrote in the campaign postcards. We invite anyone to print the postcards from this blog and write something to support the cause. The people from the Campaign for Releasing Women Political Prisoners in Burma, Thai students and other individuals are planning to bring the collected postcards to the Myanmar Embassy (Burmese Embassy) in Bangkok on September 27.

We would like to thank to those who support our campaign in different ways.

CAMPAIGN FOR RELEASING WOMEN POLITICAL PRISONERS IN BURMA