Myanmar opposition frustrated by prisoner amnesty

Myanmar's opposition has expressed disappointment with a long-anticipated prisoner amnesty (AFP, Soe Than Win)

Female Myanmar prisoners walk out of the Insein central prison in Yangon (AFP, Soe Than Win)

Thursday, October 13, 2011
By Hla Hla Htay (AFP)

YANGON — Myanmar faced calls on Thursday to free its remaining political prisoners as the opposition expressed disappointment with a much-anticipated amnesty that left most key dissidents behind bars.

The regime pardoned more than 200 political detainees, according to Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), but kept most of its roughly 2,000 political detainees locked up.

"There are still many prisoners who we expected to be released and who the people expected to be released. We feel frustrated," Nyan Win, spokesman for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, told AFP.

Some observers, however, said the amnesty could be one of several by a regime that appears eager to end its international isolation but is also wary of possible unrest involving newly released dissidents.

"It is important to see this as part of an ongoing effort of reforms across the country," said Jim Della-Giacoma, Southeast Asia project director at the think-tank International Crisis Group.

"This will be part of a series of releases," he said. "The president seems very committed to the ambitious reform agenda he announced in March, and he is moving at a pace that is surprising for many."

Many activists have criticised the new nominally civilian government for not freeing more political inmates, who include democracy campaigners, journalists, monks and lawyers.

The famous satirist Zarganar was among those released. AAPP said the regime also freed General Hso Ten, a prominent ethnic Shan leader sentenced to 106 years for charges including high treason.

But it said many leading dissidents, including key figures involved in a failed 1988 student-led uprising, remained locked up.

Phyo Min Thein, an activist and the brother-in-law of Htay Kywe who led the 88 Generation Students Group and is currently serving a 65-year sentence, said the government should not fear dissidents who have campaigned for democracy.

"We will continue our demands to release them. We felt very sorry yesterday when we heard that he was not among the release list. We had high expectations of the amnesty," he said.

The amnesty comes amid heightened hopes of reform following a series of moves by President Thein Sein, a former general, including talks with Suu Kyi, who spent most of the past two decades locked up by the junta.

In a rare concession to public opinion, Myanmar last month suspended construction of a controversial mega-dam, risking the anger of traditional ally China, which is backing the project.

The fate of political prisoners in Myanmar, also known as Burma, is a key concern of western governments that have imposed sanctions on the isolated nation.

US Senator John Kerry, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton both cautiously welcomed the prisoner releases but noted many others remain behind bars.

Wai Hnin Pwint Thon, an activist with the Burma Campaign UK and daughter of political prisoner Ko Mya Aye, said she was "extremely disappointed" and that the move was "not enough to justify the lifting of any sanctions".

"Today is a day of joy for the families of those who have been released, but for many more it is a day of sadness and disappointment, as their father, mother, husband, brother or sister remain in jail. This is a reality check, change hasn?t come to Burma yet," she said.