Burma: AHRC Welcomes Release of Phyo Wai Aung; Calls for Redress

The Asian Human Rights Commission has welcomed the release from prison on an amnesty today of Phyo Wai Aung, a young man falsely accused, tortured and imprisoned over the April 2010 bombing, and has called for him and other freed victims of gross abuses of human rights in Burma to receive rehabilitation and redress […]

Burma: Release All Remaining Political Prisoners Now and Respect Civil and Political Rights

The Burmese authorities should immediately and unconditionally release all remaining political prisoners and fully respect the civil and political rights of the Burmese people, including former political prisoners, said the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its member organization, the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (Altsean-Burma). In her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Norway in June, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi also appealed for the earliest, unconditional release of all remaining political prisoners […]

No political prisoners must remain in jail! Free Myint Aye!

On Tuesday this week, the military backed government in Burma announced the release of 25 political prisoners. Three recent released activists’ cases were highlighted, as part of Burma Campaign UK’s new campaign, No Political Prisoner Left Behind, which highlights a political prisoner case every month […]

Myanmar: Release Remaining Prisoners of Conscience

The Myanmar authorities should immediately and unconditionally free all prisoners of conscience, Amnesty International said as 80 inmates, including some 24 political prisoners and 34 foreigners, were released from prison on Tuesday.

Among the 80 released on “humanitarian grounds” were three members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), Myanmar’s leading opposition party, but the largest group is affiliated with All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) […]

All DVB VJs Freed

The Free Burma VJ campaign is delighted to confirm the release of all the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) video journalists (VJs) in an amnesty of political prisoners on 14 January 2012 […]

Release of Political Prisoners: One Step of Many Needed for Democracy in Burma

In its most substantive gesture to date, Thein Sein’s government released 651 prisoners on Friday 16 January. Among those released are ethnic leaders, leaders of the 88 Generation Student movement, and other prominent political prisoners. We applaud their release and recognize the importance of this step but further reforms are necessary in order for freedom and democracy to truly come to Burma.

The most crucial step that must be taken is the amendment or repeal of existing repressive laws, such as the Electronics Transactions Law, which subjects individuals to up to fifteen years in prison for the dissemination or receipt of information considered a threat to national tranquility, and the Unlawful Associations Act. Such repressive laws have long been used to imprison political opponents. As long as these laws remain on the books, the people of Burma will continue to risk arrest solely for expressing their opinion. This is something many of the recently released political prisoners know well, having been arrested, sentenced, released in an amnesty, and then subsequently rearrested multiple times. The concern that these political prisoners could be returned to prison should they seek to speak out against the government is of particular concern given that their release was based upon Article 401 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which allows for prisoners’ sentences to be suspended or remitted, but not cancelled as in previous amnesties. This means that should they be rearrested they could be forced to serve the remainder of their original sentence […]

AAPP-B’s View on President U Thein Sein’s Amnesty Announcement

President U Thein Sein’s administration declared an amnesty on the 12th of January, 2012 regarding the release of 651 male and female prisoners on the 13th of January, 2012 under article 401 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Act. According to the data that AAPP-B has collected and verified up to the morning of the 14th of January 2012, the number of political prisoners among those released under the amnesty announcement is 272 […]

AIPMC Welcomes Release of Political Prisoners, but More Still Needs to Be Done

The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus welcomed recent, far-reaching release of political prisoners in Myanmar as a major step towards national reconciliation […]

Statement by the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission

The Myanmar National Human Rights Commission had made appeals to the President that at a time when the Republic of the Union of Myanmar is building a democratic nation and striving for national unity, those among prisoners […]

Official Statement on 13 January Amnesty

The Best Friend warmly welcomes the release of political prisoners, including many of our friends such as U Gambira, U Ghosita, and U Kheminda, and members of The Best Friend including Ma Thanda Tun and Ko Nyo, as a significant step forward. However, we still have to continue the struggle for complete and irreversible democratic progress, and we ask the international community to continue to support genuine democratization in Burma […]