Myanmar frees many prominent political prisoners
By AYE AYE WIN | Associated Press – 40 mins ago
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar freed some of its most famous political inmates Friday, sparking jubilation outside prison gates while signaling its readiness to meet Western demands for lifting economic sanctions.
Prominent political activists, leaders of brutally repressed democratic uprisings, a former prime minister, ethnic minority leaders, journalists and relatives of the former dictator Ne Win were among those released. State media described the presidential pardon freeing 651 detainees as allowing them to take part in "nation-building."
It was the latest in a flurry of accelerating changes in Myanmar sought by the West, including starting a dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, legalizing labor unions and Thursday's signing of a cease-fire in a long-running campaign against Karen insurgents.
Myanmar likely now feels the ball is the West's court to lift the onerous economic measures.
But the United States and allies may take a wait-and-see approach, to see if government truces with various ethnic rebel groups hold, discussions with Suu Kyi move forward and scheduled April elections appear free and fair.
There has been a parade of top Western diplomats through Myanmar lately — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in December and British Foreign Secretary William Hague last week. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe is scheduled to arrive Saturday.
The message conveyed by Western nations has been clear: They are encouraged by the reform process under President Thein Sein, but economic and political sanctions could not be lifted unless the prisoners were freed. The various sanctions generally ban doing business with Myanmar, block financial transfers, especially by military-backed leaders and their cronies, and also deny visas to the same VIPs.
"I think we are close to the removal of Western sanctions," said Monique Skidmore, a Myanmar expert at the University of Canberra, adding that the U.S. and others might first wait to see Aung San Suu Kyi take a seat in parliament. "There's a sense that there's still more to go before the sanctions will be removed."
Thein Sein's government, Suu Kyi and the West — with Washington its key representative — are involved in a complicated three-way give and take. Thein Sein seeks to normalize relations with the West, which generally defers to Suu Kyi in judging the government's goodwill and progress toward democracy.
Suu Kyi's party, marginalized for more than two decades of military rule, seeks a more active role in politics if the government will allow a more level playing field. The re-entry of her National League for Democracy party into mainstream politics is the kind of endorsement the government needs to win Western approbation. What needs to be determined is the price each side is willing to pay.
Until this week, even some of Suu Kyi's supporters feared she had sold herself short. The country's most prominent political prisoners had remained behind bars with hardly a sour note struck by Suu Kyi in public. Cease-fire talks had been held between the government and various ethnic minority guerrillas groups, which have been fighting for autonomy for decades, but actual combat between the army and the Kachin minority in the north dominated relations.
Then on Thursday the government announced a cease-fire deal with the main ethnic Karen group — the most durable rebel movement — and the prisoner release followed directly on that.
Whether by chance or design, the latest moves come just ahead of visits by some U.S. senators influential in foreign affairs, including Mitch McConnell and John McCain, whose political muscle can seal a deal — or wreck it.
Human Rights Watch called Friday's release "a crucial development" in promoting human rights in Myanmar but stressed that an unknown number of political prisoners still remain detained. The group called for their release and urged the government to allow international monitors to enter prisons to verify the numbers and whereabouts of those still jailed.
Until Friday, as many as 1,500 political prisoners were believed to be behind bars, by some counts, and the exact tally of those released Friday will likely take several days. Suu Kyi's party said it was expecting the release of many of the 600 dissidents it tracks.
"The release of such a large number of political prisoners demonstrates the government's will to solve political problems through political means," said Win Tin, a senior member of Suu Kyi's party who previously spent 19 years in prison but was released under a 2008 amnesty. "This amnesty will ease political tension before the upcoming April by-election. The other major problem the government has to seriously tackle now is the issue of ethnic fighting especially in Kachin state."
The party decided to rejoin electoral politics after the military-backed but elected government took office last March, replacing army rule and tentatively easing years of repression. Some critics characterized the NLD's decision to rejoin electoral politics as a capitulation after years of resistance to military rule. The party won a 1990 general election but was denied power after the military refused to allow parliament to be seated. In 2010, the military held another general election, but the NLD found the rules unfair and declined to participate, leading to its being purged from the list of legal political parties.
The critics fear the NLD's participation helps the government maintain a veneer of legitimacy for what is actually — by constitutional statute, as well as the majority held by pro-military lawmakers — continued domination of politics by the army.
"I think this year we shall find out whether we are making progress toward democracy," Suu Kyi said in an interview with The Associated Press last week, adding that benchmarks to consider are "the release of all political prisoners,... how the by-elections are conducted,... how much more freedom of information is allowed and whether strong steps are taken to establish the rule of law."
Among the high-profile inmates released Friday were Min Ko Naing, a nearly legendary student leader from Myanmar's failed 1988 pro-democracy uprising.
Cheers and applause erupted outside the Thayet prison, 545 kilometers (345 miles) north of Yangon, where a huge crowd gathered to see the charismatic activist. Min Ko Naing, leader of the "88 Generation Students Group," was serving a 65-year prison sentence. His most recent arrest came in August 2007 along with 14 other student leaders at a protest against fuel price increases that preceded the monk-led Saffron Revolution, which was violently suppressed.
Activists arrested after the abortive 2007 Saffron Revolution — named for the color of the robes worn by the country's Buddhist monks — were also freed. Among them were Shin Gambira, 32, a militant monk who helped lead the anti-government protests. Family members said he told them he was in good health.
Also freed was ethnic leader Khun Tun Oo, the chairman of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, who was serving a 93-year sentence. He had been arrested along with several other Shan leaders in February 2005 and charged with treason.
Traditional Shan music blasted from speakers outside Khun Tun Oo's family home in Yangon, where a crowd danced as they awaited his return.
He said the accusations for which he was jailed were baseless, and he was imprisoned only because the Shan refused to take part in a military-directed constitution drafting process.
"I am free and I am back home, but there's nothing in my heart because from the very first day of my arrest I was the person who shouldn't be arrested," he said. "We Shans never did anything wrong and the so-called rebellion against the state — secession — didn't happen."
The government recently signed a preliminary cease-fire agreement with Shan rebels. The Shan Herald Agency for News, an online news site close to the rebels, said five or six Shan political prisoners were freed.
Jailed former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt also was freed. He was ousted in 2004 after falling out of favor with the junta and convicted a year later of insubordination and corruption and sentenced to 44 years under house arrest.
"The democratic process is on the right track," the 73-year-old Khin Nyunt told reporters in Yangon, saying he did not plan to return to politics. Dozens of his colleagues from the Military Intelligence service who were purged with him were also reportedly pardoned.
By AYE AYE WIN | Associated Press – 40 mins ago
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar freed some of its most famous political inmates Friday, sparking jubilation outside prison gates while signaling its readiness to meet Western demands for lifting economic sanctions.
Prominent political activists, leaders of brutally repressed democratic uprisings, a former prime minister, ethnic minority leaders, journalists and relatives of the former dictator Ne Win were among those released. State media described the presidential pardon freeing 651 detainees as allowing them to take part in "nation-building."
It was the latest in a flurry of accelerating changes in Myanmar sought by the West, including starting a dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, legalizing labor unions and Thursday's signing of a cease-fire in a long-running campaign against Karen insurgents.
Myanmar likely now feels the ball is the West's court to lift the onerous economic measures.
But the United States and allies may take a wait-and-see approach, to see if government truces with various ethnic rebel groups hold, discussions with Suu Kyi move forward and scheduled April elections appear free and fair.
There has been a parade of top Western diplomats through Myanmar lately — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in December and British Foreign Secretary William Hague last week. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe is scheduled to arrive Saturday.
The message conveyed by Western nations has been clear: They are encouraged by the reform process under President Thein Sein, but economic and political sanctions could not be lifted unless the prisoners were freed. The various sanctions generally ban doing business with Myanmar, block financial transfers, especially by military-backed leaders and their cronies, and also deny visas to the same VIPs.
"I think we are close to the removal of Western sanctions," said Monique Skidmore, a Myanmar expert at the University of Canberra, adding that the U.S. and others might first wait to see Aung San Suu Kyi take a seat in parliament. "There's a sense that there's still more to go before the sanctions will be removed."
Thein Sein's government, Suu Kyi and the West — with Washington its key representative — are involved in a complicated three-way give and take. Thein Sein seeks to normalize relations with the West, which generally defers to Suu Kyi in judging the government's goodwill and progress toward democracy.
Suu Kyi's party, marginalized for more than two decades of military rule, seeks a more active role in politics if the government will allow a more level playing field. The re-entry of her National League for Democracy party into mainstream politics is the kind of endorsement the government needs to win Western approbation. What needs to be determined is the price each side is willing to pay.
Until this week, even some of Suu Kyi's supporters feared she had sold herself short. The country's most prominent political prisoners had remained behind bars with hardly a sour note struck by Suu Kyi in public. Cease-fire talks had been held between the government and various ethnic minority guerrillas groups, which have been fighting for autonomy for decades, but actual combat between the army and the Kachin minority in the north dominated relations.
Then on Thursday the government announced a cease-fire deal with the main ethnic Karen group — the most durable rebel movement — and the prisoner release followed directly on that.
Whether by chance or design, the latest moves come just ahead of visits by some U.S. senators influential in foreign affairs, including Mitch McConnell and John McCain, whose political muscle can seal a deal — or wreck it.
Human Rights Watch called Friday's release "a crucial development" in promoting human rights in Myanmar but stressed that an unknown number of political prisoners still remain detained. The group called for their release and urged the government to allow international monitors to enter prisons to verify the numbers and whereabouts of those still jailed.
Until Friday, as many as 1,500 political prisoners were believed to be behind bars, by some counts, and the exact tally of those released Friday will likely take several days. Suu Kyi's party said it was expecting the release of many of the 600 dissidents it tracks.
"The release of such a large number of political prisoners demonstrates the government's will to solve political problems through political means," said Win Tin, a senior member of Suu Kyi's party who previously spent 19 years in prison but was released under a 2008 amnesty. "This amnesty will ease political tension before the upcoming April by-election. The other major problem the government has to seriously tackle now is the issue of ethnic fighting especially in Kachin state."
The party decided to rejoin electoral politics after the military-backed but elected government took office last March, replacing army rule and tentatively easing years of repression. Some critics characterized the NLD's decision to rejoin electoral politics as a capitulation after years of resistance to military rule. The party won a 1990 general election but was denied power after the military refused to allow parliament to be seated. In 2010, the military held another general election, but the NLD found the rules unfair and declined to participate, leading to its being purged from the list of legal political parties.
The critics fear the NLD's participation helps the government maintain a veneer of legitimacy for what is actually — by constitutional statute, as well as the majority held by pro-military lawmakers — continued domination of politics by the army.
"I think this year we shall find out whether we are making progress toward democracy," Suu Kyi said in an interview with The Associated Press last week, adding that benchmarks to consider are "the release of all political prisoners,... how the by-elections are conducted,... how much more freedom of information is allowed and whether strong steps are taken to establish the rule of law."
Among the high-profile inmates released Friday were Min Ko Naing, a nearly legendary student leader from Myanmar's failed 1988 pro-democracy uprising.
Cheers and applause erupted outside the Thayet prison, 545 kilometers (345 miles) north of Yangon, where a huge crowd gathered to see the charismatic activist. Min Ko Naing, leader of the "88 Generation Students Group," was serving a 65-year prison sentence. His most recent arrest came in August 2007 along with 14 other student leaders at a protest against fuel price increases that preceded the monk-led Saffron Revolution, which was violently suppressed.
Activists arrested after the abortive 2007 Saffron Revolution — named for the color of the robes worn by the country's Buddhist monks — were also freed. Among them were Shin Gambira, 32, a militant monk who helped lead the anti-government protests. Family members said he told them he was in good health.
Also freed was ethnic leader Khun Tun Oo, the chairman of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, who was serving a 93-year sentence. He had been arrested along with several other Shan leaders in February 2005 and charged with treason.
Traditional Shan music blasted from speakers outside Khun Tun Oo's family home in Yangon, where a crowd danced as they awaited his return.
He said the accusations for which he was jailed were baseless, and he was imprisoned only because the Shan refused to take part in a military-directed constitution drafting process.
"I am free and I am back home, but there's nothing in my heart because from the very first day of my arrest I was the person who shouldn't be arrested," he said. "We Shans never did anything wrong and the so-called rebellion against the state — secession — didn't happen."
The government recently signed a preliminary cease-fire agreement with Shan rebels. The Shan Herald Agency for News, an online news site close to the rebels, said five or six Shan political prisoners were freed.
Jailed former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt also was freed. He was ousted in 2004 after falling out of favor with the junta and convicted a year later of insubordination and corruption and sentenced to 44 years under house arrest.
"The democratic process is on the right track," the 73-year-old Khin Nyunt told reporters in Yangon, saying he did not plan to return to politics. Dozens of his colleagues from the Military Intelligence service who were purged with him were also reportedly pardoned.
******************************************************
Senate GOP leader to visit Myanmar
By MATTHEW PENNINGTON | Associated Press – 17 hrs ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, a leading congressional voice on Myanmar, will make his first visit to the country next week, his office said Thursday.
McConnell, R-Ky., will meet with democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar government officials to discuss political reform in the military-dominated country, bilateral relations and regional security issues.
He will arrive in Myanmar Sunday and return to the United States Wednesday.
Every year since 2003, McConnell has introduced legislation sanctioning Myanmar and would be a prominent voice should the U.S. contemplate easing those restrictions.
Myanmar has made tentative reforms after decades of harsh military rule. It held elections in November 2010 and freed Suu Kyi from years of house arrest but still holds hundreds of political prisoners.
The U.S. is also urging an end to fighting in Myanmar's border regions against the country's ethnic minorities and wants the government to sever its military ties with North Korea.
McConnell is one of several U.S. lawmakers visiting the country also known as Burma this month, following the landmark trip by Hillary Rodham Clinton in December, the first by a U.S. secretary of state in more than 50 years.
Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., is currently in Myanmar, the first member of the House to visit since 1999.
The Obama administration has sought to engage Myanmar after years of the U.S. isolating the military regime but is looking for signs of further reform before it moves toward normalizing ties.
While lifting sanctions appears unlikely in the near term, Washington is considering appointing a full ambassador, which would require a Senate confirmation. The highest U.S. diplomat based in Myanmar is currently a charge d'affaires.
The U.S. is watching closely to see if Myanmar stages free and fair by-elections that Suu Kyi and her party will contest April 1 and most importantly, release political prisoners.
Myanmar says it will release 651 prisoners starting Friday under a new presidential pardon but it is not yet clear whether that will include political detainees.
Improved relations with the U.S. could enable Myanmar to reduce its reliance on key ally and northern neighbor China. Lifting sanctions would open the gates to more foreign aid and investment.
By MATTHEW PENNINGTON | Associated Press – 17 hrs ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, a leading congressional voice on Myanmar, will make his first visit to the country next week, his office said Thursday.
McConnell, R-Ky., will meet with democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar government officials to discuss political reform in the military-dominated country, bilateral relations and regional security issues.
He will arrive in Myanmar Sunday and return to the United States Wednesday.
Every year since 2003, McConnell has introduced legislation sanctioning Myanmar and would be a prominent voice should the U.S. contemplate easing those restrictions.
Myanmar has made tentative reforms after decades of harsh military rule. It held elections in November 2010 and freed Suu Kyi from years of house arrest but still holds hundreds of political prisoners.
The U.S. is also urging an end to fighting in Myanmar's border regions against the country's ethnic minorities and wants the government to sever its military ties with North Korea.
McConnell is one of several U.S. lawmakers visiting the country also known as Burma this month, following the landmark trip by Hillary Rodham Clinton in December, the first by a U.S. secretary of state in more than 50 years.
Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., is currently in Myanmar, the first member of the House to visit since 1999.
The Obama administration has sought to engage Myanmar after years of the U.S. isolating the military regime but is looking for signs of further reform before it moves toward normalizing ties.
While lifting sanctions appears unlikely in the near term, Washington is considering appointing a full ambassador, which would require a Senate confirmation. The highest U.S. diplomat based in Myanmar is currently a charge d'affaires.
The U.S. is watching closely to see if Myanmar stages free and fair by-elections that Suu Kyi and her party will contest April 1 and most importantly, release political prisoners.
Myanmar says it will release 651 prisoners starting Friday under a new presidential pardon but it is not yet clear whether that will include political detainees.
Improved relations with the U.S. could enable Myanmar to reduce its reliance on key ally and northern neighbor China. Lifting sanctions would open the gates to more foreign aid and investment.
******************************************************
US to send ambassador to Myanmar, upgrading ties
(AP) – 5 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the United States will exchange ambassadors with Myanmar (mee-an-MAWR') in response to its freeing political prisoners and other reforms.
Clinton announced the move Friday after Myanmar's President Thein Sein issued a pardon and freed hundreds of detainees including some of its most famous political inmates.
In a statement, President Barack Obama described the move as "a substantial step forward for democratic reform."
It comes in the aftermath of Obama's decision to dispatch Clinton to the repressive country in December as a way of deepening engagement and encourage more openness there.
The highest level U.S. diplomat based in Myanmar, also known as Burma, is currently a charge d'affaires.
(AP) – 5 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the United States will exchange ambassadors with Myanmar (mee-an-MAWR') in response to its freeing political prisoners and other reforms.
Clinton announced the move Friday after Myanmar's President Thein Sein issued a pardon and freed hundreds of detainees including some of its most famous political inmates.
In a statement, President Barack Obama described the move as "a substantial step forward for democratic reform."
It comes in the aftermath of Obama's decision to dispatch Clinton to the repressive country in December as a way of deepening engagement and encourage more openness there.
The highest level U.S. diplomat based in Myanmar, also known as Burma, is currently a charge d'affaires.
******************************************************
Myanmar frees many prominent political prisoners, step sought by West before lifting sanctions
By Aye Aye Win, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – 1 hour 12 minutes ago
YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar freed some of its most famous political inmates Friday, sparking jubilation outside prison gates while signalling its readiness to meet Western demands for lifting economic sanctions.
Prominent political activists, leaders of brutally repressed democratic uprisings, a former prime minister, ethnic minority leaders, journalists and relatives of the former dictator Ne Win were among those released. State media described the presidential pardon freeing 651 detainees as allowing them to take part in "nation-building."
It was the latest in a flurry of accelerating changes in Myanmar sought by the West, including starting a dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, legalizing labour unions and Thursday's signing of a cease-fire in a long-running campaign against Karen insurgents.
Myanmar likely now feels the ball is the West's court to lift the onerous economic measures.
But the United States and allies may take a wait-and-see approach, to see if government truces with various ethnic rebel groups hold, discussions with Suu Kyi move forward and scheduled April elections appear free and fair.
There has been a parade of top Western diplomats through Myanmar lately — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in December and British Foreign Secretary William Hague last week. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe is scheduled to arrive Saturday.
The message conveyed by Western nations has been clear: They are encouraged by the reform process under President Thein Sein, but economic and political sanctions could not be lifted unless the prisoners were freed. The various sanctions generally ban doing business with Myanmar, block financial transfers, especially by military-backed leaders and their cronies, and also deny visas to the same VIPs.
"I think we are close to the removal of Western sanctions," said Monique Skidmore, a Myanmar expert at the University of Canberra, adding that the U.S. and others might first wait to see Aung San Suu Kyi take a seat in parliament. "There's a sense that there's still more to go before the sanctions will be removed."
Thein Sein's government, Suu Kyi and the West — with Washington its key representative — are involved in a complicated three-way give and take. Thein Sein seeks to normalize relations with the West, which generally defers to Suu Kyi in judging the government's goodwill and progress toward democracy.
Suu Kyi's party, marginalized for more than two decades of military rule, seeks a more active role in politics if the government will allow a more level playing field. The re-entry of her National League for Democracy party into mainstream politics is the kind of endorsement the government needs to win Western approbation. What needs to be determined is the price each side is willing to pay.
Until this week, even some of Suu Kyi's supporters feared she had sold herself short. The country's most prominent political prisoners had remained behind bars with hardly a sour note struck by Suu Kyi in public. Cease-fire talks had been held between the government and various ethnic minority guerrillas groups, which have been fighting for autonomy for decades, but actual combat between the army and the Kachin minority in the north dominated relations.
Then on Thursday the government announced a cease-fire deal with the main ethnic Karen group — the most durable rebel movement — and the prisoner release followed directly on that.
Whether by chance or design, the latest moves come just ahead of visits by some U.S. senators influential in foreign affairs, including Mitch McConnell and John McCain, whose political muscle can seal a deal — or wreck it.
Human Rights Watch called Friday's release "a crucial development" in promoting human rights in Myanmar but stressed that an unknown number of political prisoners still remain detained. The group called for their release and urged the government to allow international monitors to enter prisons to verify the numbers and whereabouts of those still jailed.
Until Friday, as many as 1,500 political prisoners were believed to be behind bars, by some counts, and the exact tally of those released Friday will likely take several days. Suu Kyi's party said it was expecting the release of many of the 600 dissidents it tracks.
"The release of such a large number of political prisoners demonstrates the government's will to solve political problems through political means," said Win Tin, a senior member of Suu Kyi's party who previously spent 19 years in prison but was released under a 2008 amnesty. "This amnesty will ease political tension before the upcoming April byelection. The other major problem the government has to seriously tackle now is the issue of ethnic fighting especially in Kachin state."
The party decided to rejoin electoral politics after the military-backed but elected government took office last March, replacing army rule and tentatively easing years of repression. Some critics characterized the NLD's decision to rejoin electoral politics as a capitulation after years of resistance to military rule. The party won a 1990 general election but was denied power after the military refused to allow parliament to be seated. In 2010, the military held another general election, but the NLD found the rules unfair and declined to participate, leading to its being purged from the list of legal political parties.
The critics fear the NLD's participation helps the government maintain a veneer of legitimacy for what is actually — by constitutional statute, as well as the majority held by pro-military lawmakers — continued domination of politics by the army.
"I think this year we shall find out whether we are making progress toward democracy," Suu Kyi said in an interview with The Associated Press last week, adding that benchmarks to consider are "the release of all political prisoners,... how the byelections are conducted,... how much more freedom of information is allowed and whether strong steps are taken to establish the rule of law."
Among the high-profile inmates released Friday were Min Ko Naing, a nearly legendary student leader from Myanmar's failed 1988 pro-democracy uprising.
Cheers and applause erupted outside the Thayet prison, 545 kilometres (345 miles) north of Yangon, where a huge crowd gathered to see the charismatic activist. Min Ko Naing, leader of the "88 Generation Students Group," was serving a 65-year prison sentence. His most recent arrest came in August 2007 along with 14 other student leaders at a protest against fuel price increases that preceded the monk-led Saffron Revolution, which was violently suppressed.
Activists arrested after the abortive 2007 Saffron Revolution — named for the colour of the robes worn by the country's Buddhist monks — were also freed. Among them were Shin Gambira, 32, a militant monk who helped lead the anti-government protests. Family members said he told them he was in good health.
Also freed was ethnic leader Khun Tun Oo, the chairman of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, who was serving a 93-year sentence. He had been arrested along with several other Shan leaders in February 2005 and charged with treason.
Traditional Shan music blasted from speakers outside Khun Tun Oo's family home in Yangon, where a crowd danced as they awaited his return.
He said the accusations for which he was jailed were baseless, and he was imprisoned only because the Shan refused to take part in a military-directed constitution drafting process.
"I am free and I am back home, but there's nothing in my heart because from the very first day of my arrest I was the person who shouldn't be arrested," he said. "We Shans never did anything wrong and the so-called rebellion against the state — secession — didn't happen."
The government recently signed a preliminary cease-fire agreement with Shan rebels. The Shan Herald Agency for News, an online news site close to the rebels, said five or six Shan political prisoners were freed.
Jailed former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt also was freed. He was ousted in 2004 after falling out of favour with the junta and convicted a year later of insubordination and corruption and sentenced to 44 years under house arrest.
"The democratic process is on the right track," the 73-year-old Khin Nyunt told reporters in Yangon, saying he did not plan to return to politics. Dozens of his colleagues from the Military Intelligence service who were purged with him were also reportedly pardoned.
By Aye Aye Win, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – 1 hour 12 minutes ago
YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar freed some of its most famous political inmates Friday, sparking jubilation outside prison gates while signalling its readiness to meet Western demands for lifting economic sanctions.
Prominent political activists, leaders of brutally repressed democratic uprisings, a former prime minister, ethnic minority leaders, journalists and relatives of the former dictator Ne Win were among those released. State media described the presidential pardon freeing 651 detainees as allowing them to take part in "nation-building."
It was the latest in a flurry of accelerating changes in Myanmar sought by the West, including starting a dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, legalizing labour unions and Thursday's signing of a cease-fire in a long-running campaign against Karen insurgents.
Myanmar likely now feels the ball is the West's court to lift the onerous economic measures.
But the United States and allies may take a wait-and-see approach, to see if government truces with various ethnic rebel groups hold, discussions with Suu Kyi move forward and scheduled April elections appear free and fair.
There has been a parade of top Western diplomats through Myanmar lately — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in December and British Foreign Secretary William Hague last week. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe is scheduled to arrive Saturday.
The message conveyed by Western nations has been clear: They are encouraged by the reform process under President Thein Sein, but economic and political sanctions could not be lifted unless the prisoners were freed. The various sanctions generally ban doing business with Myanmar, block financial transfers, especially by military-backed leaders and their cronies, and also deny visas to the same VIPs.
"I think we are close to the removal of Western sanctions," said Monique Skidmore, a Myanmar expert at the University of Canberra, adding that the U.S. and others might first wait to see Aung San Suu Kyi take a seat in parliament. "There's a sense that there's still more to go before the sanctions will be removed."
Thein Sein's government, Suu Kyi and the West — with Washington its key representative — are involved in a complicated three-way give and take. Thein Sein seeks to normalize relations with the West, which generally defers to Suu Kyi in judging the government's goodwill and progress toward democracy.
Suu Kyi's party, marginalized for more than two decades of military rule, seeks a more active role in politics if the government will allow a more level playing field. The re-entry of her National League for Democracy party into mainstream politics is the kind of endorsement the government needs to win Western approbation. What needs to be determined is the price each side is willing to pay.
Until this week, even some of Suu Kyi's supporters feared she had sold herself short. The country's most prominent political prisoners had remained behind bars with hardly a sour note struck by Suu Kyi in public. Cease-fire talks had been held between the government and various ethnic minority guerrillas groups, which have been fighting for autonomy for decades, but actual combat between the army and the Kachin minority in the north dominated relations.
Then on Thursday the government announced a cease-fire deal with the main ethnic Karen group — the most durable rebel movement — and the prisoner release followed directly on that.
Whether by chance or design, the latest moves come just ahead of visits by some U.S. senators influential in foreign affairs, including Mitch McConnell and John McCain, whose political muscle can seal a deal — or wreck it.
Human Rights Watch called Friday's release "a crucial development" in promoting human rights in Myanmar but stressed that an unknown number of political prisoners still remain detained. The group called for their release and urged the government to allow international monitors to enter prisons to verify the numbers and whereabouts of those still jailed.
Until Friday, as many as 1,500 political prisoners were believed to be behind bars, by some counts, and the exact tally of those released Friday will likely take several days. Suu Kyi's party said it was expecting the release of many of the 600 dissidents it tracks.
"The release of such a large number of political prisoners demonstrates the government's will to solve political problems through political means," said Win Tin, a senior member of Suu Kyi's party who previously spent 19 years in prison but was released under a 2008 amnesty. "This amnesty will ease political tension before the upcoming April byelection. The other major problem the government has to seriously tackle now is the issue of ethnic fighting especially in Kachin state."
The party decided to rejoin electoral politics after the military-backed but elected government took office last March, replacing army rule and tentatively easing years of repression. Some critics characterized the NLD's decision to rejoin electoral politics as a capitulation after years of resistance to military rule. The party won a 1990 general election but was denied power after the military refused to allow parliament to be seated. In 2010, the military held another general election, but the NLD found the rules unfair and declined to participate, leading to its being purged from the list of legal political parties.
The critics fear the NLD's participation helps the government maintain a veneer of legitimacy for what is actually — by constitutional statute, as well as the majority held by pro-military lawmakers — continued domination of politics by the army.
"I think this year we shall find out whether we are making progress toward democracy," Suu Kyi said in an interview with The Associated Press last week, adding that benchmarks to consider are "the release of all political prisoners,... how the byelections are conducted,... how much more freedom of information is allowed and whether strong steps are taken to establish the rule of law."
Among the high-profile inmates released Friday were Min Ko Naing, a nearly legendary student leader from Myanmar's failed 1988 pro-democracy uprising.
Cheers and applause erupted outside the Thayet prison, 545 kilometres (345 miles) north of Yangon, where a huge crowd gathered to see the charismatic activist. Min Ko Naing, leader of the "88 Generation Students Group," was serving a 65-year prison sentence. His most recent arrest came in August 2007 along with 14 other student leaders at a protest against fuel price increases that preceded the monk-led Saffron Revolution, which was violently suppressed.
Activists arrested after the abortive 2007 Saffron Revolution — named for the colour of the robes worn by the country's Buddhist monks — were also freed. Among them were Shin Gambira, 32, a militant monk who helped lead the anti-government protests. Family members said he told them he was in good health.
Also freed was ethnic leader Khun Tun Oo, the chairman of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, who was serving a 93-year sentence. He had been arrested along with several other Shan leaders in February 2005 and charged with treason.
Traditional Shan music blasted from speakers outside Khun Tun Oo's family home in Yangon, where a crowd danced as they awaited his return.
He said the accusations for which he was jailed were baseless, and he was imprisoned only because the Shan refused to take part in a military-directed constitution drafting process.
"I am free and I am back home, but there's nothing in my heart because from the very first day of my arrest I was the person who shouldn't be arrested," he said. "We Shans never did anything wrong and the so-called rebellion against the state — secession — didn't happen."
The government recently signed a preliminary cease-fire agreement with Shan rebels. The Shan Herald Agency for News, an online news site close to the rebels, said five or six Shan political prisoners were freed.
Jailed former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt also was freed. He was ousted in 2004 after falling out of favour with the junta and convicted a year later of insubordination and corruption and sentenced to 44 years under house arrest.
"The democratic process is on the right track," the 73-year-old Khin Nyunt told reporters in Yangon, saying he did not plan to return to politics. Dozens of his colleagues from the Military Intelligence service who were purged with him were also reportedly pardoned.
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Myanmar frees more political prisoners
By Aung Hla Tun | Reuters – 2 hrs 17 mins ago
YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar freed at least 200 political prisoners on Friday in an amnesty that could embolden the opposition and put pressure on the West to lift sanctions as one of the world's most reclusive states opens up after half a century of authoritarian rule.
Among those freed are long-persecuted democrats and ethnic leaders whose proven ability to organize and inspire could heap pressure on President Thein Sein to accelerate nascent reforms.
The United States and Europe have said freeing political prisoners is crucial to even considering lifting the economic sanctions that have isolated the former British colony, also known as Burma, and pushed it closer to China during five decades of often-brutal military rule that ended last March.
"The release of all political prisoners is a longstanding demand of the international community and I warmly welcome these releases as a further demonstration of the Burmese government's commitment to reform," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement.
As big as France and Britain combined, Myanmar lies between India, China and Southeast Asia with ports on the Indian Ocean and Andaman Sea, all of which make it an energy security asset for Beijing's landlocked western provinces and a U.S. priority as President Barack Obama strengthens engagement with Asia.
Its resources include natural gas, timber and precious gems. Myanmar is building a multi-billion-dollar port through which oil can reach a 790-km (490-mile) pipeline under construction with Chinese money and workers.
It was unclear exactly how many political detainees were among the 651 inmates covered by the amnesty, the second ordered by authorities in four months. About 230 political detainees were released in an earlier general amnesty on October 12.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), a group that tracks prisoners, said at least 200 had been freed on Friday. These included Min Ko Naing and other members of the "88 Generation Students Group", who led a pro-democracy uprising in 1988 when thousands of protesters were killed.
Also freed was Shin Gambira, a Buddhist monk who led 2007 street protests crushed by the army. He was 27 years old when sentenced to 68 years in prison in 2007. Khin Nyunt, the once-powerful chief of military intelligence (MI), was also released from house arrest.
Appointed prime minister in 2003, he ushered in a then-derided seven-point "roadmap to democracy" but was purged a year later in circumstances that were never explained. He had been under house arrest ever since.
Speaking to reporters outside his home in Yangon, Khin Nyunt expressed hope for the country, citing recent meetings between the president and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and visits by dignitaries such as Hillary Clinton, who last month became the first U.S. Secretary of State to visit Myanmar in 50 years.
"These are good signs," he said, after stressing he had no plans to return to government. "I'm not going into politics."
Sai Nyunt Lwin, 60, a prominent ethnic Shan politician, said he and all other leaders of his former Shan Nationalities' League for Democracy (SNLD) were freed.
The amnesty is a gamble for Thein Sein, a former general.
Freed dissidents will no doubt strengthen Suu Kyi's movement, but there are also concerns some could push for changes more radical than the government and Suu Kyi want.
Suu Kyi, a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize-winner released in 2010 from 15 years of house arrest, will run in a by-election for parliament in April and has said she trusts the new nominally civilian government that replaced the junta last March.
PRISONER NUMBERS UNCLEAR
Washington says it is ready to support reforms and possibly lift sanctions, but that political prisoners must be freed first. The United States has also demanded Myanmar make peace with armed ethnic minorities and organize credible elections.
On Thursday, the government signed a ceasefire with ethnic Karen rebels to try to end one of the world's longest-running insurgencies, although fighting still rages with ethnic Kachins in the north. The government has also some eased media controls.
"The government should ensure that there are no obstacles to these activists participating in public life and upcoming elections," rights group Human Rights Watch said in a statement. It called for international monitors to be allowed in to account for political prisoners that might still be behind bars.
The exact number of political prisoners remains unclear.
Rights groups and the United Nations have put it at about 2,100. But Minister for Home Affairs Lieutenant General Ko Ko told U.N. Special Rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana in August the number was 600, or about 400 after the October 12 amnesty.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy put the total on Friday at about 500. It provides help to more than 460 people it considers "prisoners of conscience", said Naing Naing, the party official in charge of assistance. There were "a few dozen" more who did not seek its help, he said.
Bo Kyi, co-founder of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), said those not included some convicted on explosive charges, such as Ko Pyay Aye. His association had identified 1,536 political prisoners before Friday's release.
But diplomats and some analysts question those numbers and say they depend on definitions - whether rebels or those who used force to oppose the government are included, for example.
A review of the AAPP's list of prisoners by European diplomatic missions in Thailand suggested the number of non-combatant "prisoners of conscience" appeared to be about 600, or about 800 before October's amnesty.
By Aung Hla Tun | Reuters – 2 hrs 17 mins ago
YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar freed at least 200 political prisoners on Friday in an amnesty that could embolden the opposition and put pressure on the West to lift sanctions as one of the world's most reclusive states opens up after half a century of authoritarian rule.
Among those freed are long-persecuted democrats and ethnic leaders whose proven ability to organize and inspire could heap pressure on President Thein Sein to accelerate nascent reforms.
The United States and Europe have said freeing political prisoners is crucial to even considering lifting the economic sanctions that have isolated the former British colony, also known as Burma, and pushed it closer to China during five decades of often-brutal military rule that ended last March.
"The release of all political prisoners is a longstanding demand of the international community and I warmly welcome these releases as a further demonstration of the Burmese government's commitment to reform," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement.
As big as France and Britain combined, Myanmar lies between India, China and Southeast Asia with ports on the Indian Ocean and Andaman Sea, all of which make it an energy security asset for Beijing's landlocked western provinces and a U.S. priority as President Barack Obama strengthens engagement with Asia.
Its resources include natural gas, timber and precious gems. Myanmar is building a multi-billion-dollar port through which oil can reach a 790-km (490-mile) pipeline under construction with Chinese money and workers.
It was unclear exactly how many political detainees were among the 651 inmates covered by the amnesty, the second ordered by authorities in four months. About 230 political detainees were released in an earlier general amnesty on October 12.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), a group that tracks prisoners, said at least 200 had been freed on Friday. These included Min Ko Naing and other members of the "88 Generation Students Group", who led a pro-democracy uprising in 1988 when thousands of protesters were killed.
Also freed was Shin Gambira, a Buddhist monk who led 2007 street protests crushed by the army. He was 27 years old when sentenced to 68 years in prison in 2007. Khin Nyunt, the once-powerful chief of military intelligence (MI), was also released from house arrest.
Appointed prime minister in 2003, he ushered in a then-derided seven-point "roadmap to democracy" but was purged a year later in circumstances that were never explained. He had been under house arrest ever since.
Speaking to reporters outside his home in Yangon, Khin Nyunt expressed hope for the country, citing recent meetings between the president and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and visits by dignitaries such as Hillary Clinton, who last month became the first U.S. Secretary of State to visit Myanmar in 50 years.
"These are good signs," he said, after stressing he had no plans to return to government. "I'm not going into politics."
Sai Nyunt Lwin, 60, a prominent ethnic Shan politician, said he and all other leaders of his former Shan Nationalities' League for Democracy (SNLD) were freed.
The amnesty is a gamble for Thein Sein, a former general.
Freed dissidents will no doubt strengthen Suu Kyi's movement, but there are also concerns some could push for changes more radical than the government and Suu Kyi want.
Suu Kyi, a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize-winner released in 2010 from 15 years of house arrest, will run in a by-election for parliament in April and has said she trusts the new nominally civilian government that replaced the junta last March.
PRISONER NUMBERS UNCLEAR
Washington says it is ready to support reforms and possibly lift sanctions, but that political prisoners must be freed first. The United States has also demanded Myanmar make peace with armed ethnic minorities and organize credible elections.
On Thursday, the government signed a ceasefire with ethnic Karen rebels to try to end one of the world's longest-running insurgencies, although fighting still rages with ethnic Kachins in the north. The government has also some eased media controls.
"The government should ensure that there are no obstacles to these activists participating in public life and upcoming elections," rights group Human Rights Watch said in a statement. It called for international monitors to be allowed in to account for political prisoners that might still be behind bars.
The exact number of political prisoners remains unclear.
Rights groups and the United Nations have put it at about 2,100. But Minister for Home Affairs Lieutenant General Ko Ko told U.N. Special Rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana in August the number was 600, or about 400 after the October 12 amnesty.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy put the total on Friday at about 500. It provides help to more than 460 people it considers "prisoners of conscience", said Naing Naing, the party official in charge of assistance. There were "a few dozen" more who did not seek its help, he said.
Bo Kyi, co-founder of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), said those not included some convicted on explosive charges, such as Ko Pyay Aye. His association had identified 1,536 political prisoners before Friday's release.
But diplomats and some analysts question those numbers and say they depend on definitions - whether rebels or those who used force to oppose the government are included, for example.
A review of the AAPP's list of prisoners by European diplomatic missions in Thailand suggested the number of non-combatant "prisoners of conscience" appeared to be about 600, or about 800 before October's amnesty.
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Obama orders more steps to "build confidence" with Myanmar
WASHINGTON | Fri Jan 13, 2012 11:20am EST
(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed Myanmar's release of at least 200 political prisoners on Friday and ordered his administration to take additional steps to "build confidence" with Myanmar's government.
Obama, in a statement, called Myanmar's freeing of prisoners a "substantial step forward for democratic reform" but stopped short of announcing a lifting of U.S. economic sanctions that have isolated the former British colony, also known as Burma.
"Much more remains to be done to meet the aspirations of the Burmese people, but the United States is committed to continuing our engagement," Obama said. "I have directed Secretary (of State Hillary) Clinton and my administration to take additional steps to build confidence with the government and people of Burma so that we seize this historic and hopeful opportunity."
WASHINGTON | Fri Jan 13, 2012 11:20am EST
(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed Myanmar's release of at least 200 political prisoners on Friday and ordered his administration to take additional steps to "build confidence" with Myanmar's government.
Obama, in a statement, called Myanmar's freeing of prisoners a "substantial step forward for democratic reform" but stopped short of announcing a lifting of U.S. economic sanctions that have isolated the former British colony, also known as Burma.
"Much more remains to be done to meet the aspirations of the Burmese people, but the United States is committed to continuing our engagement," Obama said. "I have directed Secretary (of State Hillary) Clinton and my administration to take additional steps to build confidence with the government and people of Burma so that we seize this historic and hopeful opportunity."
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Top US Senate Republican to visit Myanmar
By Shaun Tandon | AFP – 17 hrs ago
Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the US Senate and longtime force behind sanctions on Myanmar, will pay his first visit to the country to assess nascent reforms, his office said Thursday.
A growing number of prominent foreigners have been visiting Myanmar, but the long-closed country is now welcoming not just advocates of engagement but also critics whom it will need to win over for any lifting of sanctions.
McConnell, the Senate minority leader, will meet with democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and government officials in the country formerly known as Burma on a three-day trip starting on Sunday, his office said.
"Senator McConnell has and continues to be a strong advocate for political reform, reconciliation and democracy in Burma," his office said in a statement.
It will be the senator's first-ever visit to the country as the regime turned down an earlier request for a visa, an aide said.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month paid a historic visit to Myanmar in hopes of encouraging reforms. But she stopped short of offering an easing in sanctions, most of which are imposed by Congress.
McConnell has long been outspoken in his criticism of Myanmar's human rights record and has co-sponsored legislation each year for nearly a decade that has imposed the sweeping sanctions on the regime.
Another longtime supporter of sanctions, Representative Joe Crowley, a member of President Barack Obama's Democratic Party, is also paying a first visit to Myanmar this week.
Myanmar has surprised observers in recent months through a series of gestures including opening dialogue with Suu Kyi and on Thursday signing a ceasefire with the Karen National Union, one of the most prominent rebel movements fighting the state.
The United States welcomed the agreement, with State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland calling it "a good step."
"We have long called on Burmese authorities to halt hostilities in the ethnic areas and begin an inclusive dialogue with the ethnic minority groups toward national reconciliation," she said.
While the United States has been largely upbeat about prospects in Myanmar, both US officials and the opposition say that the regime has not freed enough political prisoners.
About 200 political detainees were freed in October, but activists estimate there are still between 500 and more than 1,500 prisoners of conscience in Myanmar's dilapidated jails.
Crowley, who is the first member of the House of Representatives to visit Myanmar in more than 12 years, met Thursday in Yangon with families of political prisoners.
"In all of my meetings, I'm strongly urging the immediate and unconditional release of all those who are locked up for exercising their political beliefs," Crowley said in a statement released by his Washington office.
Senior US diplomats are also in Myanmar this week to follow up on Clinton's visit, which is a test-case of Obama's decision on taking office in 2009 to extend his hand for talks to US adversaries.
Republicans have strongly criticized Obama's policy, accusing him of failing on Iran and Syria. But most Republicans have given Obama the benefit of the doubt on Myanmar as he has closely tied US positions to those of Suu Kyi, who is widely respected in Washington.
Suu Kyi, speaking Wednesday in a taped message to the Asia Society in New York as she accepted an award, said that Myanmar was "on the verge of a breakthrough to democracy."
By Shaun Tandon | AFP – 17 hrs ago
Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the US Senate and longtime force behind sanctions on Myanmar, will pay his first visit to the country to assess nascent reforms, his office said Thursday.
A growing number of prominent foreigners have been visiting Myanmar, but the long-closed country is now welcoming not just advocates of engagement but also critics whom it will need to win over for any lifting of sanctions.
McConnell, the Senate minority leader, will meet with democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and government officials in the country formerly known as Burma on a three-day trip starting on Sunday, his office said.
"Senator McConnell has and continues to be a strong advocate for political reform, reconciliation and democracy in Burma," his office said in a statement.
It will be the senator's first-ever visit to the country as the regime turned down an earlier request for a visa, an aide said.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month paid a historic visit to Myanmar in hopes of encouraging reforms. But she stopped short of offering an easing in sanctions, most of which are imposed by Congress.
McConnell has long been outspoken in his criticism of Myanmar's human rights record and has co-sponsored legislation each year for nearly a decade that has imposed the sweeping sanctions on the regime.
Another longtime supporter of sanctions, Representative Joe Crowley, a member of President Barack Obama's Democratic Party, is also paying a first visit to Myanmar this week.
Myanmar has surprised observers in recent months through a series of gestures including opening dialogue with Suu Kyi and on Thursday signing a ceasefire with the Karen National Union, one of the most prominent rebel movements fighting the state.
The United States welcomed the agreement, with State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland calling it "a good step."
"We have long called on Burmese authorities to halt hostilities in the ethnic areas and begin an inclusive dialogue with the ethnic minority groups toward national reconciliation," she said.
While the United States has been largely upbeat about prospects in Myanmar, both US officials and the opposition say that the regime has not freed enough political prisoners.
About 200 political detainees were freed in October, but activists estimate there are still between 500 and more than 1,500 prisoners of conscience in Myanmar's dilapidated jails.
Crowley, who is the first member of the House of Representatives to visit Myanmar in more than 12 years, met Thursday in Yangon with families of political prisoners.
"In all of my meetings, I'm strongly urging the immediate and unconditional release of all those who are locked up for exercising their political beliefs," Crowley said in a statement released by his Washington office.
Senior US diplomats are also in Myanmar this week to follow up on Clinton's visit, which is a test-case of Obama's decision on taking office in 2009 to extend his hand for talks to US adversaries.
Republicans have strongly criticized Obama's policy, accusing him of failing on Iran and Syria. But most Republicans have given Obama the benefit of the doubt on Myanmar as he has closely tied US positions to those of Suu Kyi, who is widely respected in Washington.
Suu Kyi, speaking Wednesday in a taped message to the Asia Society in New York as she accepted an award, said that Myanmar was "on the verge of a breakthrough to democracy."
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1/13/2012 @ 4:02AM
Forbes - Myanmar Prisoner Releases, Peace Deal Could Unlock Western Aid
Simon Montlake, Forbes Staff
Myanmar has pulled off a double whammy: A peace deal agreed Thursday with its longest-running insurgency group; and the release Friday of hundreds of political prisoners. Both were unthinkable a year ago, when the old military regime was in power and exiled critics were dismissing a new parliament as a farce. Over 600 prisoners have been freed, a far larger group than a first batch last October, and are another sign that reformers in Myanmar currently have the upper hand. Freed prisoners include students, reporters, monks and activists jailed for peaceful political activities (or, in the case of reporters, doing their job). Some have spent more than a decade behind bars. In recent months, Britain and the US have both sent their top diplomats to gauge Myanmar’s reforms and push for further changes as a condition for easing economic and political sanctions. One the most important voices in this debate belongs to Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, who is visiting next week and would be key to any shift in opinion on Capitol Hill. The end result could be to ease Western sanctions and free up much-needed development funds for Southeast Asia’s poorest country.
Myanmar’s various ethnic conflicts are complex and replete with false dawns. The Karen National Union took up arms after World War Two to fight for self-rule within an independent Myanmar (then called Burma). It held out in the 1990s when several other groups signed ceasefires without demobilising their forces. A comprehensive peace deal with the KNU would be a breakthrough for the new government. Its Railways Minister Aung Min has been making the running on the talks. Like most cabinet members, he’s a retired general, and knows the military’s mindset well. This will be crucial to finding a compromise between KNU demands for some kind of autonomy and the military insistence on a unitary state.
Right now, the mass prisoner release is generating more headlines. However, the aggregate number of political prisoners in Myanmar is a matter of debate. Some human rights monitors and foreign diplomats have argued that a previous much-used figure of 2,100 was unreliable. A more conservative number could be 800 or so. If so, today’s second batch of releases has significantly cut the numbers of people held in Myanmar for political offences. In a statement, Human Rights Watch hailed the releases and urged a complete accounting for all listed detainees.
Given the closed nature of Burma’s justice system, the lack of a free press and unsophisticated communications in one of Asia’s poorest countries – particularly in remote ethnic areas affected by conflict – each of these lists may omit significant numbers of people being held for the peaceful expression of their political views. Human Rights Watch called on the Burmese government to allow international independent monitors to publicly account for all remaining political prisoners.
“The latest releases are wonderful news for the individuals and their families, but foreign governments should continue to push for the release of all political prisoners, and for international monitors to verify the process,” said [Asia deputy director Elaine] Pearson. “For years Burma’s prisons have been off-limits to any independent monitoring mechanism. The next step for Burma’s government is to allow international monitors to verify the whereabouts and conditions of remaining political prisoners.”
One of those released Friday was an elderly ethnic-Shan leader, Hkun Too Oo. He was detained in Yangon in 2004, not long after I met him in his modest office as a military crackdown was intensifying. He was a courtly, considerate man who believed in a democratic way for his country, so it’s gratifying to know that he has finally been freed. Also snagged in the same purge that year was military intelligence chief, General Khin Nyunt, who was put under house arrest for unspecified charges. He was due to walk free Friday, along with man of his detained officers. This will satisfy the military bloc in parliament that tabled a demand last year for the fair treatment of their former colleagues. All in all, a populist move by the new government. Let’s see what rewards they reap.
Forbes - Myanmar Prisoner Releases, Peace Deal Could Unlock Western Aid
Simon Montlake, Forbes Staff
Myanmar has pulled off a double whammy: A peace deal agreed Thursday with its longest-running insurgency group; and the release Friday of hundreds of political prisoners. Both were unthinkable a year ago, when the old military regime was in power and exiled critics were dismissing a new parliament as a farce. Over 600 prisoners have been freed, a far larger group than a first batch last October, and are another sign that reformers in Myanmar currently have the upper hand. Freed prisoners include students, reporters, monks and activists jailed for peaceful political activities (or, in the case of reporters, doing their job). Some have spent more than a decade behind bars. In recent months, Britain and the US have both sent their top diplomats to gauge Myanmar’s reforms and push for further changes as a condition for easing economic and political sanctions. One the most important voices in this debate belongs to Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, who is visiting next week and would be key to any shift in opinion on Capitol Hill. The end result could be to ease Western sanctions and free up much-needed development funds for Southeast Asia’s poorest country.
Myanmar’s various ethnic conflicts are complex and replete with false dawns. The Karen National Union took up arms after World War Two to fight for self-rule within an independent Myanmar (then called Burma). It held out in the 1990s when several other groups signed ceasefires without demobilising their forces. A comprehensive peace deal with the KNU would be a breakthrough for the new government. Its Railways Minister Aung Min has been making the running on the talks. Like most cabinet members, he’s a retired general, and knows the military’s mindset well. This will be crucial to finding a compromise between KNU demands for some kind of autonomy and the military insistence on a unitary state.
Right now, the mass prisoner release is generating more headlines. However, the aggregate number of political prisoners in Myanmar is a matter of debate. Some human rights monitors and foreign diplomats have argued that a previous much-used figure of 2,100 was unreliable. A more conservative number could be 800 or so. If so, today’s second batch of releases has significantly cut the numbers of people held in Myanmar for political offences. In a statement, Human Rights Watch hailed the releases and urged a complete accounting for all listed detainees.
Given the closed nature of Burma’s justice system, the lack of a free press and unsophisticated communications in one of Asia’s poorest countries – particularly in remote ethnic areas affected by conflict – each of these lists may omit significant numbers of people being held for the peaceful expression of their political views. Human Rights Watch called on the Burmese government to allow international independent monitors to publicly account for all remaining political prisoners.
“The latest releases are wonderful news for the individuals and their families, but foreign governments should continue to push for the release of all political prisoners, and for international monitors to verify the process,” said [Asia deputy director Elaine] Pearson. “For years Burma’s prisons have been off-limits to any independent monitoring mechanism. The next step for Burma’s government is to allow international monitors to verify the whereabouts and conditions of remaining political prisoners.”
One of those released Friday was an elderly ethnic-Shan leader, Hkun Too Oo. He was detained in Yangon in 2004, not long after I met him in his modest office as a military crackdown was intensifying. He was a courtly, considerate man who believed in a democratic way for his country, so it’s gratifying to know that he has finally been freed. Also snagged in the same purge that year was military intelligence chief, General Khin Nyunt, who was put under house arrest for unspecified charges. He was due to walk free Friday, along with man of his detained officers. This will satisfy the military bloc in parliament that tabled a demand last year for the fair treatment of their former colleagues. All in all, a populist move by the new government. Let’s see what rewards they reap.
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Committee to Protect Journalists - In mass amnesty, nine journalists released in Burma
Bangkok, January 13, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of nine journalists who were freed as part of a mass release of at least 600 political prisoners in Burma on Friday, but calls on President Thein Sein to release reporters still being held in detention and to implement press reforms that would end the country's repressive media environment.
Journalists Win Maw, Sithu Zeya, Maung Maung Zeya, Hla Hla Win, Ngwe Soe Linn, Zaw Thet Htwe, Myint Naing, Thant Zin Aung, and Nay Phone Latt were all released today from detention, according to news reports and CPJ research. Some of the freed journalists were serving sentences as long as 32 years for their reporting, CPJ research shows.
CPJ can confirm that at least three journalists--Ne Min, Zaw Tun, and Nyi Nyi Tun--are still being held by Burmese authorities. Other journalists who work clandestinely for fear of retribution may still also be in prison, CPJ research shows. CPJ will continue to monitor lists of released detainees as they are made public.
"CPJ welcomes the release of these journalists, but calls for the freedom of all the reporters still held behind bars in Burma," said Shawn Crispin, CPJ's senior Southeast representative. "Today's mass amnesty provides a starting point for Thein Sein's government to implement meaningful media reforms and reverse his country's reputation as one of the world's worst press freedom offenders."
Among those released today were the five reporters of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) that the exile-run news organization had identified by name. A DVB representative told CPJ on Friday that a number of their reporters were still behind bars. The DVB journalists remain anonymous because of the group's concerns that Burmese authorities may extend their sentences if they are found to have reported secretly for DVB.
Today's mass release also included political activists, opposition politicians, ethnic minority leaders, Buddhist monks, and a former prime minister from the former military regime, according to news reports. It is unclear exactly how many prisoners were released.
Human rights groups estimated the Burmese government held between 600 to 1,500 political prisoners before this release. Western governments have held out the release of political prisoners as a pre-condition for removing the economic and financial sanctions they maintain against Burma in response to the past military government's abysmal human rights record.
Thein Sein's military-backed, democratically elected government has initiated a series of reforms, including dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, since assuming office last March. Those moves have included lifting some restrictions on Burma's non-news media, including the removal of pre-publication censorship of non-news publications and greater freedom for local media to report on government policies. The government has also lifted blocks on foreign and exile news websites, including those frequently critical of the current and past military-backed regimes.
"While recent signals have been positive from a press freedom perspective, there is still a long way to go before Burma's news media could be considered even remotely free," said
CPJ's Crispin. "Until Thein Sein's government ends pre-publication censorship of local publications and amends the various laws used to repress the press, Burma will remain among the most repressive media environments in the world."
CPJ released a special report on Burma's media situation last September that called on Thein Sein's government to release all journalists held in detention and stop censoring the local media.
Bangkok, January 13, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of nine journalists who were freed as part of a mass release of at least 600 political prisoners in Burma on Friday, but calls on President Thein Sein to release reporters still being held in detention and to implement press reforms that would end the country's repressive media environment.
Journalists Win Maw, Sithu Zeya, Maung Maung Zeya, Hla Hla Win, Ngwe Soe Linn, Zaw Thet Htwe, Myint Naing, Thant Zin Aung, and Nay Phone Latt were all released today from detention, according to news reports and CPJ research. Some of the freed journalists were serving sentences as long as 32 years for their reporting, CPJ research shows.
CPJ can confirm that at least three journalists--Ne Min, Zaw Tun, and Nyi Nyi Tun--are still being held by Burmese authorities. Other journalists who work clandestinely for fear of retribution may still also be in prison, CPJ research shows. CPJ will continue to monitor lists of released detainees as they are made public.
"CPJ welcomes the release of these journalists, but calls for the freedom of all the reporters still held behind bars in Burma," said Shawn Crispin, CPJ's senior Southeast representative. "Today's mass amnesty provides a starting point for Thein Sein's government to implement meaningful media reforms and reverse his country's reputation as one of the world's worst press freedom offenders."
Among those released today were the five reporters of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) that the exile-run news organization had identified by name. A DVB representative told CPJ on Friday that a number of their reporters were still behind bars. The DVB journalists remain anonymous because of the group's concerns that Burmese authorities may extend their sentences if they are found to have reported secretly for DVB.
Today's mass release also included political activists, opposition politicians, ethnic minority leaders, Buddhist monks, and a former prime minister from the former military regime, according to news reports. It is unclear exactly how many prisoners were released.
Human rights groups estimated the Burmese government held between 600 to 1,500 political prisoners before this release. Western governments have held out the release of political prisoners as a pre-condition for removing the economic and financial sanctions they maintain against Burma in response to the past military government's abysmal human rights record.
Thein Sein's military-backed, democratically elected government has initiated a series of reforms, including dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, since assuming office last March. Those moves have included lifting some restrictions on Burma's non-news media, including the removal of pre-publication censorship of non-news publications and greater freedom for local media to report on government policies. The government has also lifted blocks on foreign and exile news websites, including those frequently critical of the current and past military-backed regimes.
"While recent signals have been positive from a press freedom perspective, there is still a long way to go before Burma's news media could be considered even remotely free," said
CPJ's Crispin. "Until Thein Sein's government ends pre-publication censorship of local publications and amends the various laws used to repress the press, Burma will remain among the most repressive media environments in the world."
CPJ released a special report on Burma's media situation last September that called on Thein Sein's government to release all journalists held in detention and stop censoring the local media.
******************************************************
Myanmar Undertakes ‘Big’ Prisoner Release as Sanctions Reviewed
January 13, 2012, 5:01 AM EST
By Daniel Ten Kate
Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Myanmar’s government began releasing hundreds of political prisoners after signing a cease-fire with the country’s largest armed rebel group, two conditions set by Western nations for lifting sanctions.
Prisoners including pro-democracy activists, ethnic minority leaders and an ex-prime minister who fell out of favor with the former ruling junta were set free today, according to the Democratic Voice of Burma, an Internet news service run by exiles. They are among 651 prisoners included in a presidential pardon, the Associated Press reported.
“This could be the big prisoner release that everyone has been waiting for,” Thant Myint-U, a former United Nations official who has written two books on Myanmar, said in a telephone interview. “It’s a number greater than the National League for Democracy’s number of prisoners of conscience,” he said, referring to top dissident Aung San Suu Kyi’s party.
Freeing political prisoners has been a primary demand of U.S. and European policy makers who impose sanctions on Myanmar, one of Asia’s poorest countries whose 62 million citizens earn an average of $2.20 per day. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Myanmar President Thein Sein during a visit in December to free prisoners and improve ties with ethnic groups as a condition for easing restrictions.
The prisoners released today included Min Ko Naing, a student leader from a 1988 uprising, and Khun Tun Oo, a Shan ethnic leader, the AP reported. Former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt was also freed after more than seven years under house arrest, the Democratic Voice of Burma reported.
Independent Monitors
“Years of international calls to release long-detained political prisoners seem to have pushed the government to finally do the right thing,” Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director for New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “The next step for Burma’s government is to allow international monitors to verify the whereabouts and conditions of remaining political prisoners.”
The number of jailed dissidents in Myanmar is disputed. Suu Kyi, who spent 15 years in confinement before her release in 2010, called for the government to free 525 political prisoners on Nov. 16. The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) said Dec. 23 that more than 1,500 dissidents remained locked up.
‘Good News’
The prisoner release follows an agreement signed yesterday with the Karen National Union in a bid to end more than 60 years of fighting in one of the world’s oldest conflicts.
“This is good news for the people of Burma,” U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague, who traveled to Myanmar for talks last week, said in an e-mailed statement, referring to the country by its former name. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland yesterday called the cease-fire “a good step.”
“This is an incredibly significant moment,” Jim Della- Giacoma, Southeast Asia project director for the International Crisis Group, said by telephone from Jakarta. “It could be a tipping point and lead other major armed groups that have not yet signed cease-fires with the government to do so.”
Hague offered last week to lift sanctions on Myanmar in return for “bold steps” toward increased freedom and democracy, echoing Clinton’s statement from last month.
European Union sanctions on Myanmar include asset freezes on state-owned companies as well as travel restrictions on officials. U.S. measures ban imports, restrict money transfers, curb aid funding and target jewelry with gemstones originating in Myanmar.
Return to Myanmar
Chevron Corp., based in San Ramon, California, is one of the few U.S. companies operating in Myanmar through its 2005 purchase of Unocal Corp., which invested in a gas field and pipeline prior to a 1997 ban on new investment. Standard Chartered Plc, the U.K. bank that earns more than two-thirds of its profit in Asia, said this month it’s seeking to return to Myanmar once the U.S. and Europe lift sanctions.
China National Petroleum Corp. is building oil and gas pipelines across Myanmar, a move that would allow it to access Middle Eastern crude without having to go through the Malacca Straits. China, Hong Kong and Thailand account for more than 70 percent of total investment into Myanmar, compared with less than 1 percent for the U.S., according to government data.
China’s Yunnan province has an economy twice the size of Myanmar. China and India, which account for more than a third of the world population, share more than 3,600 kilometers (2,237 miles) of border with Myanmar.
Ethnic Groups
The KNU was among five ethnic groups that met with Myanmar government representative Aung Min two months ago for initial peace talks. The group, founded in 1947, claims about a tenth of Myanmar’s 62 million people. It is seeking to retain the ability to carry weapons in a federal system that maintains self- determination for the Karen, according to its website.
The KNU sent a 19-member delegation to the talks, according to a statement released two days ago before the meeting. The conflict has driven more than 140,000 people to seek asylum in neighboring Thailand, which hosts them in camps along the border, according to the United Nations.
Myanmar’s army is still fighting with ethnic groups including the Kachin Independence Army, a conflict that has displaced 50,000 ethnic Kachin since last June, Human Rights Watch said on Dec. 21. Kachin, bordering China and India, is the northernmost of Myanmar’s 14 provinces.
January 13, 2012, 5:01 AM EST
By Daniel Ten Kate
Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Myanmar’s government began releasing hundreds of political prisoners after signing a cease-fire with the country’s largest armed rebel group, two conditions set by Western nations for lifting sanctions.
Prisoners including pro-democracy activists, ethnic minority leaders and an ex-prime minister who fell out of favor with the former ruling junta were set free today, according to the Democratic Voice of Burma, an Internet news service run by exiles. They are among 651 prisoners included in a presidential pardon, the Associated Press reported.
“This could be the big prisoner release that everyone has been waiting for,” Thant Myint-U, a former United Nations official who has written two books on Myanmar, said in a telephone interview. “It’s a number greater than the National League for Democracy’s number of prisoners of conscience,” he said, referring to top dissident Aung San Suu Kyi’s party.
Freeing political prisoners has been a primary demand of U.S. and European policy makers who impose sanctions on Myanmar, one of Asia’s poorest countries whose 62 million citizens earn an average of $2.20 per day. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Myanmar President Thein Sein during a visit in December to free prisoners and improve ties with ethnic groups as a condition for easing restrictions.
The prisoners released today included Min Ko Naing, a student leader from a 1988 uprising, and Khun Tun Oo, a Shan ethnic leader, the AP reported. Former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt was also freed after more than seven years under house arrest, the Democratic Voice of Burma reported.
Independent Monitors
“Years of international calls to release long-detained political prisoners seem to have pushed the government to finally do the right thing,” Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director for New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “The next step for Burma’s government is to allow international monitors to verify the whereabouts and conditions of remaining political prisoners.”
The number of jailed dissidents in Myanmar is disputed. Suu Kyi, who spent 15 years in confinement before her release in 2010, called for the government to free 525 political prisoners on Nov. 16. The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) said Dec. 23 that more than 1,500 dissidents remained locked up.
‘Good News’
The prisoner release follows an agreement signed yesterday with the Karen National Union in a bid to end more than 60 years of fighting in one of the world’s oldest conflicts.
“This is good news for the people of Burma,” U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague, who traveled to Myanmar for talks last week, said in an e-mailed statement, referring to the country by its former name. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland yesterday called the cease-fire “a good step.”
“This is an incredibly significant moment,” Jim Della- Giacoma, Southeast Asia project director for the International Crisis Group, said by telephone from Jakarta. “It could be a tipping point and lead other major armed groups that have not yet signed cease-fires with the government to do so.”
Hague offered last week to lift sanctions on Myanmar in return for “bold steps” toward increased freedom and democracy, echoing Clinton’s statement from last month.
European Union sanctions on Myanmar include asset freezes on state-owned companies as well as travel restrictions on officials. U.S. measures ban imports, restrict money transfers, curb aid funding and target jewelry with gemstones originating in Myanmar.
Return to Myanmar
Chevron Corp., based in San Ramon, California, is one of the few U.S. companies operating in Myanmar through its 2005 purchase of Unocal Corp., which invested in a gas field and pipeline prior to a 1997 ban on new investment. Standard Chartered Plc, the U.K. bank that earns more than two-thirds of its profit in Asia, said this month it’s seeking to return to Myanmar once the U.S. and Europe lift sanctions.
China National Petroleum Corp. is building oil and gas pipelines across Myanmar, a move that would allow it to access Middle Eastern crude without having to go through the Malacca Straits. China, Hong Kong and Thailand account for more than 70 percent of total investment into Myanmar, compared with less than 1 percent for the U.S., according to government data.
China’s Yunnan province has an economy twice the size of Myanmar. China and India, which account for more than a third of the world population, share more than 3,600 kilometers (2,237 miles) of border with Myanmar.
Ethnic Groups
The KNU was among five ethnic groups that met with Myanmar government representative Aung Min two months ago for initial peace talks. The group, founded in 1947, claims about a tenth of Myanmar’s 62 million people. It is seeking to retain the ability to carry weapons in a federal system that maintains self- determination for the Karen, according to its website.
The KNU sent a 19-member delegation to the talks, according to a statement released two days ago before the meeting. The conflict has driven more than 140,000 people to seek asylum in neighboring Thailand, which hosts them in camps along the border, according to the United Nations.
Myanmar’s army is still fighting with ethnic groups including the Kachin Independence Army, a conflict that has displaced 50,000 ethnic Kachin since last June, Human Rights Watch said on Dec. 21. Kachin, bordering China and India, is the northernmost of Myanmar’s 14 provinces.
******************************************************
Monsters and Critics - ANALYSIS: Myanmar makes it harder to maintain sanctions
By Peter Janssen Jan 13, 2012, 10:23 GMT
Bangkok - Myanmar's new government has been pulling out the stops in recent weeks to meet the West's conditions for normalizing ties and, crucially, dropping economic sanctions that have penalized the country for the past two decades.
'The ball is in the West's court now,' said Kyaw San Wai, a Myanmar watcher at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. 'Removing the sanctions is overdue. That would further help the reform process.'
It's probably no accident that Myanmar's bevy of reformist moves comes at a time when the European Union is debating whether it would renew its economic sanctions on Myanmar.
'We have discussions on the sanctions in February and March, and then they run out in April unless the EU decides to renew them,' said one European diplomat based in Yangon.
For years, the West has demanded that Myanmar release its political prisoners, jailed during the past 23 years of junta rule.
Since coming to office in March, President Thein Sein has pushed through four prisoner amnesties. The first three, included 347 political prisoners among the more than 20,000 inmates freed.
The fourth came Friday. Among the more than 400 political prisoners released were prominent activists high on the wish lists of human rights groups and Western governments.
At the end of the day, some political prisoners would no doubt remain in jail, but it was unclear how many.
The West's other main demand for normalization of relations has been the cessation of fighting between the government and a dozen ethnic minority rebel groups fighting for the autonomy of their territorial states over the past six decades.
These conflicts have been one of the main reasons for Myanmar's poor human rights record.
The Myanmar army has not stinted on atrocities in its efforts to wipe out their own citizens, albeit of different ethnicity than the majority Burmans. Incidents of rape, forced labour, land confiscation and the use of villagers as human shields are well documented.
As of this month, the military was still engaged in a brutal offensive against the Kachin Independence Organization. The fighting has displaced 60,000 civilians.
But on other battlefronts, the outlook seemed brighter.
The government signed a tentative ceasefire Thursday with the Karen National Union (KNU), which has been fighting a civil war since January 1949, making it one of the world's oldest insurgencies.
The government has also signed similar ceasefires with the Shan State Army-South and Chin National Army, two other insurgent groups based in northern Myanmar.
At Thursday's signing ceremony in Pa-an in Karen State, Aung Min, head of the government's peace committee, agreed 'in principle' to the KNU proposal that the government stop fighting all ethnic groups.
When Aung Min, a close friend of Thein Sein, negotiates with ethnic minority leaders, he tells them he and the president are the good guys among the military establishment, which still runs Myanmar, and they would be wise to seize this window of opportunity to make peace.
In one of his most surprising moves, Thein Sein last year shelved a Chinese-contracted, 3-billion-dollar hydroelectric dam in Kachin State in northern Myanmar, purportedly because of opposition from the local Kachin people.
'Aung Min told me the president will use Aung San Suu Kyi to lift the economic sanctions, and once international investments come in, Myanmar can get some money to reimburse the Chinese for having shelved the dam project,' KNU secretary general Zipporah Sein said of her recent chats with Aung Min.
Opposition leader Suu Kyi, with whom Thein Sein and other government leaders have met since they took office last year, is, of course, the lynchpin for the West's lifting of sanctions.
The West has maintained its sanctions on Myanmar to provide Suu Kyi with the leverage she needs to keep herself in the political picture in Myanmar, and they have arguably succeeded.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who herself was released from long periods of detention in November 2010, has agreed to contest an April 1 by-election, which she would no doubt win, making her eligible to become the legitimate opposition leader in parliament.
This outcome is what Thein Sein wants, according to sources close to Suu Kyi.
'She may be hoping that by the time she enters parliament, the sanctions issue is gone,' one Western diplomat said.
By Peter Janssen Jan 13, 2012, 10:23 GMT
Bangkok - Myanmar's new government has been pulling out the stops in recent weeks to meet the West's conditions for normalizing ties and, crucially, dropping economic sanctions that have penalized the country for the past two decades.
'The ball is in the West's court now,' said Kyaw San Wai, a Myanmar watcher at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. 'Removing the sanctions is overdue. That would further help the reform process.'
It's probably no accident that Myanmar's bevy of reformist moves comes at a time when the European Union is debating whether it would renew its economic sanctions on Myanmar.
'We have discussions on the sanctions in February and March, and then they run out in April unless the EU decides to renew them,' said one European diplomat based in Yangon.
For years, the West has demanded that Myanmar release its political prisoners, jailed during the past 23 years of junta rule.
Since coming to office in March, President Thein Sein has pushed through four prisoner amnesties. The first three, included 347 political prisoners among the more than 20,000 inmates freed.
The fourth came Friday. Among the more than 400 political prisoners released were prominent activists high on the wish lists of human rights groups and Western governments.
At the end of the day, some political prisoners would no doubt remain in jail, but it was unclear how many.
The West's other main demand for normalization of relations has been the cessation of fighting between the government and a dozen ethnic minority rebel groups fighting for the autonomy of their territorial states over the past six decades.
These conflicts have been one of the main reasons for Myanmar's poor human rights record.
The Myanmar army has not stinted on atrocities in its efforts to wipe out their own citizens, albeit of different ethnicity than the majority Burmans. Incidents of rape, forced labour, land confiscation and the use of villagers as human shields are well documented.
As of this month, the military was still engaged in a brutal offensive against the Kachin Independence Organization. The fighting has displaced 60,000 civilians.
But on other battlefronts, the outlook seemed brighter.
The government signed a tentative ceasefire Thursday with the Karen National Union (KNU), which has been fighting a civil war since January 1949, making it one of the world's oldest insurgencies.
The government has also signed similar ceasefires with the Shan State Army-South and Chin National Army, two other insurgent groups based in northern Myanmar.
At Thursday's signing ceremony in Pa-an in Karen State, Aung Min, head of the government's peace committee, agreed 'in principle' to the KNU proposal that the government stop fighting all ethnic groups.
When Aung Min, a close friend of Thein Sein, negotiates with ethnic minority leaders, he tells them he and the president are the good guys among the military establishment, which still runs Myanmar, and they would be wise to seize this window of opportunity to make peace.
In one of his most surprising moves, Thein Sein last year shelved a Chinese-contracted, 3-billion-dollar hydroelectric dam in Kachin State in northern Myanmar, purportedly because of opposition from the local Kachin people.
'Aung Min told me the president will use Aung San Suu Kyi to lift the economic sanctions, and once international investments come in, Myanmar can get some money to reimburse the Chinese for having shelved the dam project,' KNU secretary general Zipporah Sein said of her recent chats with Aung Min.
Opposition leader Suu Kyi, with whom Thein Sein and other government leaders have met since they took office last year, is, of course, the lynchpin for the West's lifting of sanctions.
The West has maintained its sanctions on Myanmar to provide Suu Kyi with the leverage she needs to keep herself in the political picture in Myanmar, and they have arguably succeeded.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who herself was released from long periods of detention in November 2010, has agreed to contest an April 1 by-election, which she would no doubt win, making her eligible to become the legitimate opposition leader in parliament.
This outcome is what Thein Sein wants, according to sources close to Suu Kyi.
'She may be hoping that by the time she enters parliament, the sanctions issue is gone,' one Western diplomat said.
******************************************************
Financial Times (blog) - Myanmar banking: for the brave
January 13, 2012 3:30 am by Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura
For all the hoopla surrounding Myanmar as the new Wild West following its half-century of isolation, a truly frontier market is its banking sector – ATMs became available just two months ago. But one bank has picked up the challenge.
Standard Chartered, the British bank, was the first lender to openly express interest in returning to Myanmar, having been the first foreign bank to set up shop in 1862 when the country was a British colony.
“We used to be in Burma for a long time, and we’ll be very happy to get back there,” Jaspal Bindra, the bank’s chief executive officer for Asia, said last week. “If I was a betting man, I would say in 2012 Burma will be off the [EU and US-led] sanctions list.”
A lifting of sanctions and political freedom would boost the economy and its reputation among investors as the next Laos or Vietnam, analysts say.
“Eventually this would indeed be a good idea, both for Burma and Standard Chartered,” Sean Turnell, editor of Burma Economic Watch and associate professor at Macquarie University in Sydney, told beyondbrics. “The former desperately needs the expertise that I suspect only foreign banks can at this stage deliver – the latter since it returns the bank to its origins, at a time when Burma is very much a greenfield site.”
Analysts however warn that expecting rapid change is too optimistic. Only five to ten per cent of the population has bank deposits and very few companies have access to domestic lenders. Foreign banks are banned and lenders are prohibited from holding assets denominated in foreign currencies.
“Most larger firms rely on group cash, most smaller firms on friends, relatives, moneylenders. There are all sorts of regulations on banks in Burma that make getting a loan for commercial enterprise very difficult,” said Turnell. Some cumbersome rules stipulate that loan terms must not exceed one year, banks cannot lend without collateral to a greater value than the loans, and obtaining land and other property titles is difficult.
The current banking landscape is dominated by four government banks: the Myanma Agriculture & Development Bank, Myanma Economic Bank, Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment & Commercial Bank. Around 20 lenders are private, four of which opened recently. There are about 10 representative offices of foreign banks, down from about 30 a decade ago.
However data provided by the IMF and the Economist Intelligence Unit show that half of commercial loans are funneled towards the government, which has been on a spending spree in recent years, mostly in infrastructure projects. Loans doubled in just two years, standing at Kt2.2bn as of the second quarter of 2011.
Interestingly though, despite an apparent ban on foreign currency-denominated assets, commercial banks have ratcheted up foreign liabilities of some $3.4bn outstanding in the second quarter of 2011, according to a recent report by the EIU. Although it is unknown how or why the banks have accumulated the assets, the sheer size could destabilise the nascent banking system in the case of a currency depreciation as that would make debt repayments expensive.
Another major risk is the rapid growth in credit that, accompanied by substandard risk management practices, exposes the sector to bank runs and crises in confidence, according to the EIU.
The outstanding stock of private-sector credit soared by 58 per cent year-on-year as of June 2011, most likely driven by the addition of four new banks.
“Such massive growth in credit is one big question mark for investors. There’s no knowing really what the non-performing loans in the banking sector will be,” Danny Richards, Burma expert at the EIU, told beyondbrics.
And as the EIU’s report says:
Weaknesses in the regulatory environment continue to cause concern, and money-laundering (linked to the trade in illegal narcotics) remains a problem, despite recent progress in tackling this activity. Licences have recently been granted for four new private commercial banks, but these are all owned by local businessmen who have extensive links with the military’s leaders, and this has reinforced concerns over corruption in the banking sector.
For overseas banks to get into Myanmar early, it will be something of a leap in the dark.
January 13, 2012 3:30 am by Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura
For all the hoopla surrounding Myanmar as the new Wild West following its half-century of isolation, a truly frontier market is its banking sector – ATMs became available just two months ago. But one bank has picked up the challenge.
Standard Chartered, the British bank, was the first lender to openly express interest in returning to Myanmar, having been the first foreign bank to set up shop in 1862 when the country was a British colony.
“We used to be in Burma for a long time, and we’ll be very happy to get back there,” Jaspal Bindra, the bank’s chief executive officer for Asia, said last week. “If I was a betting man, I would say in 2012 Burma will be off the [EU and US-led] sanctions list.”
A lifting of sanctions and political freedom would boost the economy and its reputation among investors as the next Laos or Vietnam, analysts say.
“Eventually this would indeed be a good idea, both for Burma and Standard Chartered,” Sean Turnell, editor of Burma Economic Watch and associate professor at Macquarie University in Sydney, told beyondbrics. “The former desperately needs the expertise that I suspect only foreign banks can at this stage deliver – the latter since it returns the bank to its origins, at a time when Burma is very much a greenfield site.”
Analysts however warn that expecting rapid change is too optimistic. Only five to ten per cent of the population has bank deposits and very few companies have access to domestic lenders. Foreign banks are banned and lenders are prohibited from holding assets denominated in foreign currencies.
“Most larger firms rely on group cash, most smaller firms on friends, relatives, moneylenders. There are all sorts of regulations on banks in Burma that make getting a loan for commercial enterprise very difficult,” said Turnell. Some cumbersome rules stipulate that loan terms must not exceed one year, banks cannot lend without collateral to a greater value than the loans, and obtaining land and other property titles is difficult.
The current banking landscape is dominated by four government banks: the Myanma Agriculture & Development Bank, Myanma Economic Bank, Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment & Commercial Bank. Around 20 lenders are private, four of which opened recently. There are about 10 representative offices of foreign banks, down from about 30 a decade ago.
However data provided by the IMF and the Economist Intelligence Unit show that half of commercial loans are funneled towards the government, which has been on a spending spree in recent years, mostly in infrastructure projects. Loans doubled in just two years, standing at Kt2.2bn as of the second quarter of 2011.
Interestingly though, despite an apparent ban on foreign currency-denominated assets, commercial banks have ratcheted up foreign liabilities of some $3.4bn outstanding in the second quarter of 2011, according to a recent report by the EIU. Although it is unknown how or why the banks have accumulated the assets, the sheer size could destabilise the nascent banking system in the case of a currency depreciation as that would make debt repayments expensive.
Another major risk is the rapid growth in credit that, accompanied by substandard risk management practices, exposes the sector to bank runs and crises in confidence, according to the EIU.
The outstanding stock of private-sector credit soared by 58 per cent year-on-year as of June 2011, most likely driven by the addition of four new banks.
“Such massive growth in credit is one big question mark for investors. There’s no knowing really what the non-performing loans in the banking sector will be,” Danny Richards, Burma expert at the EIU, told beyondbrics.
And as the EIU’s report says:
Weaknesses in the regulatory environment continue to cause concern, and money-laundering (linked to the trade in illegal narcotics) remains a problem, despite recent progress in tackling this activity. Licences have recently been granted for four new private commercial banks, but these are all owned by local businessmen who have extensive links with the military’s leaders, and this has reinforced concerns over corruption in the banking sector.
For overseas banks to get into Myanmar early, it will be something of a leap in the dark.
******************************************************
13 January 2012 | Last updated at 02:37AM
New Straits Times - Nine Myanmar illegals held
PADANG BESAR: An attempt by nine Myanmar immigrants to enter the country illegally was yesterday foiled by the Anti-Smuggling Unit (UPP) here.
State UPP Commander Deputy Superintendent Zakaria Abdul Rahman said early investigation revealed that the Myanmar nationals, all males aged between 18 and 36, claimed they were victims of a fraudulent agent from a neighbouring country who took RM1,500 from each of them using the 6P legalisation programme for foreign workers and illegal immigrants to trick them.
Zakaria said the men claimed they were even told that they could get into Malaysia illegally and obtain legal status under the large-scale legalisation and amnesty exercise.
The illegals who were detained by the enforcement agency about 7.45pm on Wednesday at Kampung Titi Tinggi, near here, were seen "sandwiched" in a Proton Saga car while the "tekong", in his 30s, left the car and fled when he noticed the officers who were patrolling the area heading towards the car.
He said the illegals failed to provide any legal travel documents.
He added that about 6.30pm the same day the UPP detained a 22-year-old youth and seized 60 boxes of various types of firecrackers and fireworks worth RM60,000 in a raid at a house at Kampung Kok Mak here , believed to be a transit point for collecting the contraband for the Chinese New Year.
He added that the detainee admitted transporting the items through the security border fence near Kampung Melayu here using two different pick-up trucks at different times.
New Straits Times - Nine Myanmar illegals held
PADANG BESAR: An attempt by nine Myanmar immigrants to enter the country illegally was yesterday foiled by the Anti-Smuggling Unit (UPP) here.
State UPP Commander Deputy Superintendent Zakaria Abdul Rahman said early investigation revealed that the Myanmar nationals, all males aged between 18 and 36, claimed they were victims of a fraudulent agent from a neighbouring country who took RM1,500 from each of them using the 6P legalisation programme for foreign workers and illegal immigrants to trick them.
Zakaria said the men claimed they were even told that they could get into Malaysia illegally and obtain legal status under the large-scale legalisation and amnesty exercise.
The illegals who were detained by the enforcement agency about 7.45pm on Wednesday at Kampung Titi Tinggi, near here, were seen "sandwiched" in a Proton Saga car while the "tekong", in his 30s, left the car and fled when he noticed the officers who were patrolling the area heading towards the car.
He said the illegals failed to provide any legal travel documents.
He added that about 6.30pm the same day the UPP detained a 22-year-old youth and seized 60 boxes of various types of firecrackers and fireworks worth RM60,000 in a raid at a house at Kampung Kok Mak here , believed to be a transit point for collecting the contraband for the Chinese New Year.
He added that the detainee admitted transporting the items through the security border fence near Kampung Melayu here using two different pick-up trucks at different times.
******************************************************
The Guardian - Burma reforms leave many disorientated by pace of change
US responds to developments by announcing it will send an ambassador to Burma for the first time since 1990
Jason Burke, guardian.co.uk, Friday 13 January 2012 12.08 EST
Earlier this month, an excited crowd stood on a pavement in the centre of Rangoon, Burma's southern port city, clapping as they watched images of monks demonstrating and police baton charges on a big outdoor screen.
Their applause was for the courage of those who had organised a film festival and had shown footage shot during protests against Burma's secretive and often brutal regime only four years ago.
"It's incredible. I can't believe they are showing this," said one young local journalist. Only months ago, such an act would almost certainly have led to a lengthy prison sentence. Many are disorientated by the pace of change in Burma.
Since a military coup 14 years after the former British colony gained its independence, Burma has been shunned by the international community.
Huge protests in 1988 led to elections which were cancelled by the military authorities. Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy party's charismatic leader, was placed under house arrest and waves of savage repression followed.
Nothing changed until March 2010 when elderly military dictator Than Shwe appointed a nominally civilian administration and called elections. These were heavily rigged, but subsequently the president, Thein Sein, has pushed through a series of reformist measures, halted work on an unpopular Chinese-funded dam and, most significantly, reached out to Aung San Suu Kyi. The Nobel peace prize laureate was released from house arrest in November 2010 and will now lead the NLD in by-elections in April.
One reward has been the visits of officials such as Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, who announced on Friday that the US would be sending an ambassador to Burma for the first time since 1990.
William Hague, the UK foreign secretary, has also been to visit the country. Both repeatedly raised the issue of political prisoners.
Western diplomats in Rangoon described the new amnesty as a surprise that had made a lot of people happy.
The exact reasons for the extraordinary shifts in Burma remain unclear. There are conservative and reformist factions among the country's ruling clique, and there appears to be a clear desire to have European Union and US sanctions lifted.
Concern at over-dependence on Beijing's influence is probably another factor. Senior officials say they recognise their country's economic backwardness — it is the poorest Asian nation after Afghanistan — and see free market capitalism as the only way to prosper. That means democracy, they argue.
Gareth Price, an expert in Burma at the London-based thinktank Chatham House, warns however that "the base is very low".
"Obviously good stuff is happening but only yesterday they were banging people up for 65 years for making videos," he said.
US responds to developments by announcing it will send an ambassador to Burma for the first time since 1990
Jason Burke, guardian.co.uk, Friday 13 January 2012 12.08 EST
Earlier this month, an excited crowd stood on a pavement in the centre of Rangoon, Burma's southern port city, clapping as they watched images of monks demonstrating and police baton charges on a big outdoor screen.
Their applause was for the courage of those who had organised a film festival and had shown footage shot during protests against Burma's secretive and often brutal regime only four years ago.
"It's incredible. I can't believe they are showing this," said one young local journalist. Only months ago, such an act would almost certainly have led to a lengthy prison sentence. Many are disorientated by the pace of change in Burma.
Since a military coup 14 years after the former British colony gained its independence, Burma has been shunned by the international community.
Huge protests in 1988 led to elections which were cancelled by the military authorities. Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy party's charismatic leader, was placed under house arrest and waves of savage repression followed.
Nothing changed until March 2010 when elderly military dictator Than Shwe appointed a nominally civilian administration and called elections. These were heavily rigged, but subsequently the president, Thein Sein, has pushed through a series of reformist measures, halted work on an unpopular Chinese-funded dam and, most significantly, reached out to Aung San Suu Kyi. The Nobel peace prize laureate was released from house arrest in November 2010 and will now lead the NLD in by-elections in April.
One reward has been the visits of officials such as Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, who announced on Friday that the US would be sending an ambassador to Burma for the first time since 1990.
William Hague, the UK foreign secretary, has also been to visit the country. Both repeatedly raised the issue of political prisoners.
Western diplomats in Rangoon described the new amnesty as a surprise that had made a lot of people happy.
The exact reasons for the extraordinary shifts in Burma remain unclear. There are conservative and reformist factions among the country's ruling clique, and there appears to be a clear desire to have European Union and US sanctions lifted.
Concern at over-dependence on Beijing's influence is probably another factor. Senior officials say they recognise their country's economic backwardness — it is the poorest Asian nation after Afghanistan — and see free market capitalism as the only way to prosper. That means democracy, they argue.
Gareth Price, an expert in Burma at the London-based thinktank Chatham House, warns however that "the base is very low".
"Obviously good stuff is happening but only yesterday they were banging people up for 65 years for making videos," he said.
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BREAKING NEWS
The Irrawaddy - Political Dissidents Released in Govt Amnesty
By SAW YAN NAING Friday, January 13, 2012
Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Htay Kywe, Mya Aye and Nilar Thein are among 650 prisoners released on Friday under a new presidential pardon.
Family members of political prisoners told The Irrawaddy on Friday that they were informed by the authorities that their relatives are on the list of freed prisoners. It was also reported that former Burma spy chief Khin Nyunt and intelligent official ex-Col San Pwint have also been released, as were ethnic political prisoners including Hkun Htun Oo and prominent Buddhist monk U Gambira, who was an organizer of the 2007 'Saffron Revolution.” Journalists including Zaw Thet Htwe were also freed.
Speaking with The Irrawaddy on Friday from outside Thayawady prison, Nilar Thein, said, “I’m happy, and I will be very happy to see my family. We will get involved in democratic reform with Auntie [Aung San Suu Kyi].”
“The reforms introduced by President Thein Sein and Auntie Suu are what we have so long been waiting for. But we have to work harder for the remaining colleagues who are still in prison. If all of them are released, that will be a beautiful image for all of us,” she said.
Her husband, Ko Jimmy was also freed.
Sources in Insein said that hundreds of family members of prisoners gathered outside Insein prison to greet their soon-to-be freed relatives. About 200 prisoners in Insein prison will be released after 11 am on Friday, said one resident who gathered outside the prison.
“We don’t know yet how many political prisoners in Insein will be freed. But we have heard that about 200 prisoners in Insein prison alone will be released,” he added.
The Burmese government made the announcement through state-run radio and television in Thursday evening that some 651 prisoners would be freed so that they can participate in the task of nation-building.
The amnesty came less than two weeks after the government freed 6,656 convicts under an amnesty and reduced the sentences of 38,964 others through a clemency order.
Some 13 political detainees across the country were among those freed, according to The Associated Press report on Thursday. Among prominent prisoners are ethnic party leaders, activists from pro-democracy uprisings in 1988 and 2007, and relatives of the country's former leader, the late Gen. Ne Win, said the report.
Amnesties under the new government that freed more than 27,000 convicts since last May were disappointing as they included only 200 or so political detainees. The current estimate of political prisoners ranges from about 600 to 1,500, though the government insists no one falls into the category because they are simply criminal convicts.
The government TV announcement read on Thursday: “For the sake of state peace and stability, national consolidation and to enable everyone to participate in political process and on humanitarian grounds, the government will grant amnesty to 651 prisoners so that they can take part in nation building.”
The Irrawaddy - Political Dissidents Released in Govt Amnesty
By SAW YAN NAING Friday, January 13, 2012
Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Htay Kywe, Mya Aye and Nilar Thein are among 650 prisoners released on Friday under a new presidential pardon.
Family members of political prisoners told The Irrawaddy on Friday that they were informed by the authorities that their relatives are on the list of freed prisoners. It was also reported that former Burma spy chief Khin Nyunt and intelligent official ex-Col San Pwint have also been released, as were ethnic political prisoners including Hkun Htun Oo and prominent Buddhist monk U Gambira, who was an organizer of the 2007 'Saffron Revolution.” Journalists including Zaw Thet Htwe were also freed.
Speaking with The Irrawaddy on Friday from outside Thayawady prison, Nilar Thein, said, “I’m happy, and I will be very happy to see my family. We will get involved in democratic reform with Auntie [Aung San Suu Kyi].”
“The reforms introduced by President Thein Sein and Auntie Suu are what we have so long been waiting for. But we have to work harder for the remaining colleagues who are still in prison. If all of them are released, that will be a beautiful image for all of us,” she said.
Her husband, Ko Jimmy was also freed.
Sources in Insein said that hundreds of family members of prisoners gathered outside Insein prison to greet their soon-to-be freed relatives. About 200 prisoners in Insein prison will be released after 11 am on Friday, said one resident who gathered outside the prison.
“We don’t know yet how many political prisoners in Insein will be freed. But we have heard that about 200 prisoners in Insein prison alone will be released,” he added.
The Burmese government made the announcement through state-run radio and television in Thursday evening that some 651 prisoners would be freed so that they can participate in the task of nation-building.
The amnesty came less than two weeks after the government freed 6,656 convicts under an amnesty and reduced the sentences of 38,964 others through a clemency order.
Some 13 political detainees across the country were among those freed, according to The Associated Press report on Thursday. Among prominent prisoners are ethnic party leaders, activists from pro-democracy uprisings in 1988 and 2007, and relatives of the country's former leader, the late Gen. Ne Win, said the report.
Amnesties under the new government that freed more than 27,000 convicts since last May were disappointing as they included only 200 or so political detainees. The current estimate of political prisoners ranges from about 600 to 1,500, though the government insists no one falls into the category because they are simply criminal convicts.
The government TV announcement read on Thursday: “For the sake of state peace and stability, national consolidation and to enable everyone to participate in political process and on humanitarian grounds, the government will grant amnesty to 651 prisoners so that they can take part in nation building.”
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The Irrawaddy - Min Ko Naing Calls for Peace in Ethnic Areas
By WAI MOE Friday, January 13, 2012
Min Ko Naing, Burma’s most prominent pro-democracy figure after Aung San Suu Kyi, has called for peace in ethnic minority areas and the release of all political prisoners.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy shortly after his release from a 65 year prison term on Friday, he said, “I am very concerned about achieving peace in ethnic areas because when I hear the news about the armed conflicts, particularly in Kachin State, it makes me very uncomfortable.”
The leader of the 88 Generation Students group, who was released from prison along with 650 other political dissidents on Friday, continued: “That's why we need peace across the country immediately. Then we can work toward building national reconciliation.”
Min Ko Naing said that achieving peace in Burma—including the ethnic areas—is one of the most important aims of the 88 Generation Students group.
“There must be no political dissidents in Burma’s prisons!” he said by telephone from Aung Lan Township in Magway Division where he was en route by car to his hometown Rangoon.
He said that although he and other many dissidents were released on Friday, there are still many political prisoners behind bars.
“In Tayet Prison alone—where I was incarcerated—there are still political prisoners, some who are related to ethnic armed groups and others who were arrested mistakenly,” he said. “We don’t know yet how many political prisoners are still in prisons across the country. There could be different opinions in the definition of political prisoners, but they were all arrested on political grounds.”
Asked about his role in a future Burma, Min Ko Naing said that he and his colleagues will work together with Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), toward achieving democratic reform and national reconciliation.
“These past few years, we have had a policy to support the NLD,” he said. “We have not changed our stance. I will discuss all matters with my colleagues soon—but we will definitely work with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD.”
According to Min Ko Naing, members of the 88 Generation Students group who were released on Friday and earlier will hold meetings in the coming days.
“It is certain that we, the 88 group, will stand alongside the people of Burma just as we did before,” he said. “We will reflect the people’s voices and desires, and work on their behalf.
Regarding President Thein Sein and his administration, Min Ko Naing said he does not want to make critical comments and will wait and see. However, he said, there existed some questionable elements under the current administration.
“I don’t want to make any critical comments or analysis based on just one person. I believe the government does at least have a collective leadership,” he said. “We have to wait and see whether the president’s decision is followed, because what we see now is that his troops don't always obey his orders.”
Since his release from prison on Friday morning , Min Ko Naing has been greeted by jubilant crowds in Tayet and Aung Lan. He said he feels that 'people power' is back and that he is positive about the time ahead.
Min Ko Naing, literally meaning “Conqueror of Kings,” has been well-known in Burma since the pro-democracy uprising in 1988 when he was the leader of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions. He was arrested in March 1989 a few months after the September 1988 military coup. He was imprisoned for 20 years and stayed behind bars until November 2004.
He was arrested again with several 88 Generation colleagues in September 2006 and detained until January 2007. He and his colleagues were arrested again on August 21, 2007, following their peaceful protest against the government’s fuel price hike that sparked the monk-led mass demonstrations in September 2007.
By WAI MOE Friday, January 13, 2012
Min Ko Naing, Burma’s most prominent pro-democracy figure after Aung San Suu Kyi, has called for peace in ethnic minority areas and the release of all political prisoners.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy shortly after his release from a 65 year prison term on Friday, he said, “I am very concerned about achieving peace in ethnic areas because when I hear the news about the armed conflicts, particularly in Kachin State, it makes me very uncomfortable.”
The leader of the 88 Generation Students group, who was released from prison along with 650 other political dissidents on Friday, continued: “That's why we need peace across the country immediately. Then we can work toward building national reconciliation.”
Min Ko Naing said that achieving peace in Burma—including the ethnic areas—is one of the most important aims of the 88 Generation Students group.
“There must be no political dissidents in Burma’s prisons!” he said by telephone from Aung Lan Township in Magway Division where he was en route by car to his hometown Rangoon.
He said that although he and other many dissidents were released on Friday, there are still many political prisoners behind bars.
“In Tayet Prison alone—where I was incarcerated—there are still political prisoners, some who are related to ethnic armed groups and others who were arrested mistakenly,” he said. “We don’t know yet how many political prisoners are still in prisons across the country. There could be different opinions in the definition of political prisoners, but they were all arrested on political grounds.”
Asked about his role in a future Burma, Min Ko Naing said that he and his colleagues will work together with Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), toward achieving democratic reform and national reconciliation.
“These past few years, we have had a policy to support the NLD,” he said. “We have not changed our stance. I will discuss all matters with my colleagues soon—but we will definitely work with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD.”
According to Min Ko Naing, members of the 88 Generation Students group who were released on Friday and earlier will hold meetings in the coming days.
“It is certain that we, the 88 group, will stand alongside the people of Burma just as we did before,” he said. “We will reflect the people’s voices and desires, and work on their behalf.
Regarding President Thein Sein and his administration, Min Ko Naing said he does not want to make critical comments and will wait and see. However, he said, there existed some questionable elements under the current administration.
“I don’t want to make any critical comments or analysis based on just one person. I believe the government does at least have a collective leadership,” he said. “We have to wait and see whether the president’s decision is followed, because what we see now is that his troops don't always obey his orders.”
Since his release from prison on Friday morning , Min Ko Naing has been greeted by jubilant crowds in Tayet and Aung Lan. He said he feels that 'people power' is back and that he is positive about the time ahead.
Min Ko Naing, literally meaning “Conqueror of Kings,” has been well-known in Burma since the pro-democracy uprising in 1988 when he was the leader of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions. He was arrested in March 1989 a few months after the September 1988 military coup. He was imprisoned for 20 years and stayed behind bars until November 2004.
He was arrested again with several 88 Generation colleagues in September 2006 and detained until January 2007. He and his colleagues were arrested again on August 21, 2007, following their peaceful protest against the government’s fuel price hike that sparked the monk-led mass demonstrations in September 2007.
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The Irrawaddy - Danish Govt to Focus on Burma's Borders
By PATRICK BOEHLER Friday, January 13, 2012
Border areas will be among the focus areas of Denmark's engagement efforts with Burma, visiting Danish Minister for Development Cooperation Christian Friis Bach told The Irrawaddy earlier this week.
Bach made his remarks after returning from Burma, where he met with President Thein Sein, several government ministers and pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi ,and also traveled to Shan State.
“We will pay special attention to development in the border areas and working primarily from inside [Burma] and making sure that the peace process is translated into concrete progress, especially in areas that have been affected by ethnic conflict, where poverty is severe and where the rights of the people have not been protected,” he said.
Bach also announced a doubling of Danish development assistance to Burma from 50 to 100 million Danish kroner (US $17 million) in 2012.
The Danish visit to Burma comes a week after Denmark assumed the presidency of the European Union (EU), giving Bach's voice additional weight when deciding how to deal with the Southeast Asian nation's political reforms.
Bach, a former journalist, economics professor and consultant for international organizations, said that his visit was a “signal that we will engage more” to make sure that “the democratic transition brings real benefits to the people of Burma.”
He announced the establishment of a Danish Technical Cooperation Office in Burma. “We stand ready to open the office as soon as possible after the by-election on April 1,” he said.
The office will serve “to increase our dialogue with all actors within Burma, ranging from civil society, the private sector, opposition parties and other democratic forces as well as the government,” the minister added.
Bach's comments came only days after the EU announced it would set up a representative office in Rangoon in the near future.
Michael Mann, spokesman for the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, told The Irrawaddy that the EU representative office will also be established “as soon as possible,” but no decisions had been made on who will be its head or how many staff will be allocated.
Asked about the possibility of lifting EU sanctions against Burma, Bach remained cautious.
“I cannot foresee a situation where all sanctions are removed, but I can foresee a situation where we will have a dialogue in Europe on how we can engage in a more constructive way in order to support the democratic transition,” he said.
Bach said this “stronger engagement” was based on three conditions which he emphasized in conversations with Thein Sein, several ministers and members of the Union Parliament.
The conditions he set out were the freeing of all prisoners of conscience, free and fair by-elections on April 1 and tangible efforts in bringing peace to ethnic conflicts.
For the latter, he demanded a cessation of violence and increased access to disputed areas, “in order to build schools, health clinics, improve livelihoods and make sure the peace process is followed by progress on the ground.”
He added that the realization of the three conditions was only a first step. “What we really need to build is rule of law in a very comprehensive way so that the rule of law can be achieved for ethnic minorities, political prisoners, opposition parties and the population in general,” he told The Irrawaddy.
Bach held a joint press conference with Suu Kyi in Rangoon on Jan. 6 congratulating her for the re-registration of the National League for Democracy (NLD) as an official party.
The NLD won Burma's last undisputed elections in 1990 by a landslide, but was never permitted to take power.
The party was disbanded after refusing to stand for the 2010 Burmese general elections in protest at the widely condemned 2008 Constitution, which guaranteed a large proportion of Parliamentary seats to the military.
“Scandinavian countries are shining examples of people-oriented government, therefore we put particular importance into relations with Scandinavian countries,” Suu Kyi told Bach and a group of journalists gathered at her residence in Rangoon.
Bach traveled to Burma from Jan. 6 to 9. His last visit to Burma was in 2008, when he was the head of the international department of DanChurchAid, a Danish humanitarian and development NGO.
By PATRICK BOEHLER Friday, January 13, 2012
Border areas will be among the focus areas of Denmark's engagement efforts with Burma, visiting Danish Minister for Development Cooperation Christian Friis Bach told The Irrawaddy earlier this week.
Bach made his remarks after returning from Burma, where he met with President Thein Sein, several government ministers and pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi ,and also traveled to Shan State.
“We will pay special attention to development in the border areas and working primarily from inside [Burma] and making sure that the peace process is translated into concrete progress, especially in areas that have been affected by ethnic conflict, where poverty is severe and where the rights of the people have not been protected,” he said.
Bach also announced a doubling of Danish development assistance to Burma from 50 to 100 million Danish kroner (US $17 million) in 2012.
The Danish visit to Burma comes a week after Denmark assumed the presidency of the European Union (EU), giving Bach's voice additional weight when deciding how to deal with the Southeast Asian nation's political reforms.
Bach, a former journalist, economics professor and consultant for international organizations, said that his visit was a “signal that we will engage more” to make sure that “the democratic transition brings real benefits to the people of Burma.”
He announced the establishment of a Danish Technical Cooperation Office in Burma. “We stand ready to open the office as soon as possible after the by-election on April 1,” he said.
The office will serve “to increase our dialogue with all actors within Burma, ranging from civil society, the private sector, opposition parties and other democratic forces as well as the government,” the minister added.
Bach's comments came only days after the EU announced it would set up a representative office in Rangoon in the near future.
Michael Mann, spokesman for the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, told The Irrawaddy that the EU representative office will also be established “as soon as possible,” but no decisions had been made on who will be its head or how many staff will be allocated.
Asked about the possibility of lifting EU sanctions against Burma, Bach remained cautious.
“I cannot foresee a situation where all sanctions are removed, but I can foresee a situation where we will have a dialogue in Europe on how we can engage in a more constructive way in order to support the democratic transition,” he said.
Bach said this “stronger engagement” was based on three conditions which he emphasized in conversations with Thein Sein, several ministers and members of the Union Parliament.
The conditions he set out were the freeing of all prisoners of conscience, free and fair by-elections on April 1 and tangible efforts in bringing peace to ethnic conflicts.
For the latter, he demanded a cessation of violence and increased access to disputed areas, “in order to build schools, health clinics, improve livelihoods and make sure the peace process is followed by progress on the ground.”
He added that the realization of the three conditions was only a first step. “What we really need to build is rule of law in a very comprehensive way so that the rule of law can be achieved for ethnic minorities, political prisoners, opposition parties and the population in general,” he told The Irrawaddy.
Bach held a joint press conference with Suu Kyi in Rangoon on Jan. 6 congratulating her for the re-registration of the National League for Democracy (NLD) as an official party.
The NLD won Burma's last undisputed elections in 1990 by a landslide, but was never permitted to take power.
The party was disbanded after refusing to stand for the 2010 Burmese general elections in protest at the widely condemned 2008 Constitution, which guaranteed a large proportion of Parliamentary seats to the military.
“Scandinavian countries are shining examples of people-oriented government, therefore we put particular importance into relations with Scandinavian countries,” Suu Kyi told Bach and a group of journalists gathered at her residence in Rangoon.
Bach traveled to Burma from Jan. 6 to 9. His last visit to Burma was in 2008, when he was the head of the international department of DanChurchAid, a Danish humanitarian and development NGO.
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The Irrawaddy - In the Words of Released Dissidents
By THE IRRAWADDY Friday, January 13, 2012
Min Ko Naing, 88 Generation Students Group
“I have no thought about party politics. But politics should not be limited to party activities. We can work outside party politics.”
Hkun Htun Oo, Shan politician
“I think the current changes are movements in the right direction. If we're to keep going down this path with determination, then it should be all right. I am so glad about this situation.”
Khin Nyunt, Former Prime Minister
“I welcome Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s efforts. If she is in the Hluttaw [Parliament], it will be better than it is now because she is bold and outspoken.”
Nilar Thein, 88 Generation Students Group
“I’m happy, and I will be very happy to see my family. We will get involved in democratic reform with Auntie [Aung San Suu Kyi]. The reforms introduced by President Thein Sein and Auntie Suu are what we have so long been waiting for. But we have to work harder for our remaining colleagues who are still in prison. If all of them are released, that will be a beautiful image for all of us.”
U Gambira, a Buddhist monk who helped organize the Saffron Revolution in 2007
“I feel that I have to continue working for the country. I don’t know about the current political reforms as I was in jail. If they say Burma is democratic, there can be no political prisoners in the country.”
Nay Phone Latt, Blogger
“I will continue to be a blogger. We express ourselves freely by writing and posting it on our blog or facebook. So, I will keep writingeven if it means I get arrested again. Then we will know whether or not we have real freedom. I fully support Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's leadership. I will support her work as much as I can.”
By THE IRRAWADDY Friday, January 13, 2012
Min Ko Naing, 88 Generation Students Group
“I have no thought about party politics. But politics should not be limited to party activities. We can work outside party politics.”
Hkun Htun Oo, Shan politician
“I think the current changes are movements in the right direction. If we're to keep going down this path with determination, then it should be all right. I am so glad about this situation.”
Khin Nyunt, Former Prime Minister
“I welcome Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s efforts. If she is in the Hluttaw [Parliament], it will be better than it is now because she is bold and outspoken.”
Nilar Thein, 88 Generation Students Group
“I’m happy, and I will be very happy to see my family. We will get involved in democratic reform with Auntie [Aung San Suu Kyi]. The reforms introduced by President Thein Sein and Auntie Suu are what we have so long been waiting for. But we have to work harder for our remaining colleagues who are still in prison. If all of them are released, that will be a beautiful image for all of us.”
U Gambira, a Buddhist monk who helped organize the Saffron Revolution in 2007
“I feel that I have to continue working for the country. I don’t know about the current political reforms as I was in jail. If they say Burma is democratic, there can be no political prisoners in the country.”
Nay Phone Latt, Blogger
“I will continue to be a blogger. We express ourselves freely by writing and posting it on our blog or facebook. So, I will keep writingeven if it means I get arrested again. Then we will know whether or not we have real freedom. I fully support Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's leadership. I will support her work as much as I can.”
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No grudge against anyone: Khin Nyunt
Friday, 13 January 2012 19:40 Mizzima News
(Mizzima) – Former General Khin Nyunt, who was among the prisoners released on Friday, has spoken to reporters outside his home in Rangoon. Khin Nyunt, who contested for power with former junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe, said he had no plans to re-enter politics, and he supports the work of Aung San Suu Kyi.
“In the journals, I see President Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi are working together, and I am very happy to see like that,” he said. “It is good for our country.”
Peace is also good for the country, he said, and he wished success to people who are working for peace.
“I believe in the people who are assigned this work,” he said. “The other side also wants peace too so if both sides reconcile…I think it will be successful.”
He said his son was a battalion commander when he was arrested. “Both me and my son were trained by the armed forces,” he said, so they have got discipline and they are committed to working for the country.
“We shall do everything which will be beneficial for our country and our people, but we won’t do politics,” he said.
He said he had no grudge against anyone. “I am doing religious work only. According to our religious teachings, everything is determined by our fate, everything must be in the cycle of being and nothingness. I understand this dhamma (rule). I feel I am lucky to be able to do religious work, and I will live peacefully with my family,” he said.
He said he lived most of the time in his home in Rangoon under house arrest. “I was taken to Insein for the first time in July 2005 and I was tried there. That’s all. The rest of the time during my imprisonment, I lived here peacefully without any trouble and harassment. I could live peacefully with the security agencies assigned to my security at my house,” he said. He said he had not met anyone since his release.
“I shall speak through the media only when I have something to say for the country,” he said, adding that he hoped the media gets more freedom and plays an important role in the country.
Friday, 13 January 2012 19:40 Mizzima News
(Mizzima) – Former General Khin Nyunt, who was among the prisoners released on Friday, has spoken to reporters outside his home in Rangoon. Khin Nyunt, who contested for power with former junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe, said he had no plans to re-enter politics, and he supports the work of Aung San Suu Kyi.
“In the journals, I see President Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi are working together, and I am very happy to see like that,” he said. “It is good for our country.”
Peace is also good for the country, he said, and he wished success to people who are working for peace.
“I believe in the people who are assigned this work,” he said. “The other side also wants peace too so if both sides reconcile…I think it will be successful.”
He said his son was a battalion commander when he was arrested. “Both me and my son were trained by the armed forces,” he said, so they have got discipline and they are committed to working for the country.
“We shall do everything which will be beneficial for our country and our people, but we won’t do politics,” he said.
He said he had no grudge against anyone. “I am doing religious work only. According to our religious teachings, everything is determined by our fate, everything must be in the cycle of being and nothingness. I understand this dhamma (rule). I feel I am lucky to be able to do religious work, and I will live peacefully with my family,” he said.
He said he lived most of the time in his home in Rangoon under house arrest. “I was taken to Insein for the first time in July 2005 and I was tried there. That’s all. The rest of the time during my imprisonment, I lived here peacefully without any trouble and harassment. I could live peacefully with the security agencies assigned to my security at my house,” he said. He said he had not met anyone since his release.
“I shall speak through the media only when I have something to say for the country,” he said, adding that he hoped the media gets more freedom and plays an important role in the country.
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The road to reform got a little less bumpy today
Friday, 13 January 2012 19:58 Mizzima News
(Editorial) – Burma is on the path to peaceful development but there will be more challenges ahead, in spite of a joyous day in which most of the prominent political prisoners were released.
The scenes of joy over the unexpected release of political prisoners today indicates real change. Those released included well-known 88 Generation Student leader Min Ko Naing, the Shan ethnic nationalities leader Hkun Htun Oo and one of the Saffron Revolution leaders, Ashin Gambia. Even the formerly powerful ex-prime minister and Military Intelligence Chief Khin Nyunt was sprung from incarceration. This is an indication it is not business as usual in Burma. Today’s release of political prisoners was preceded by concrete reformist actions by the new government, notably the decision to halt the Myitsone Dam project financed by China and the cancellation of the 400-megawatt coal-fired power plant in the Dawei Project of Italian-Thai company.
Opening the gates of the prisons today for these people indicates the government has confidence in national reconciliation and is moving towards a more democratic society. But more challenges lie ahead. Burma needs judiciary system, reform of the suffocating bureaucratic system and serious attention to infrastructure and the struggling health and education systems.
That there was a delay in seeing this release was an indication of the struggle behind the scenes between the reformists and the old guard.
Talk of release has been on people’s lips for months. Political leaders like 88-Generation students, the Shan ethnic leaders Khun Htun Oo and former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt are important figures in politics and they have the potential to disturb the tranquillity of the streets and the government's seven-point Road Map to full democracy. However, after the historic move of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to jump into the electoral process, things have truly changed. With the acknowledgement by Western governments and the support of opposition forces – bar a radical minority communist group – Thein Sein’s government appears to have gained the confidence to move forward pursing the electoral process.
Nobody would have believed this if they had been told about it a year ago. President Thein Sein understands that national reconciliation includes the release of political prisoners. This process has been accelerated by today’s action.
There appears to be a tacit understanding for the opposition to stay off the streets. No demonstrations are in the offing. But a lot will depend on whether changes seep through to the grassroots. Certainly the atmosphere on the streets of Rangoon this week was one of more openness with discussion of politics no longer a taboo. Important changes are needed in the country’s budget in sectors like health and education, meaningful change to bureaucratic mechanisms, local administrations, and the judiciary. If this happens in a relatively short period of time, the popularity of the Thein Sein government’s moves will remain and a sense of forgiveness of the previous regime may be realized. If this fails to happen, there may be mass protests with the focus on the environment, land confiscation, corruption, and possibly over the continued armed confrontation in ethnic areas, if tension still exists.
Might there be a backlash from hardliners? Unlikely. The interesting point here is that the military’s Commander in Chief General Min Aung Hlaing was visiting Thailand when the amnesty was announced. Min Aung Hlaing is a member of the 11-member National Security Council, which has the final say on matter like amnesty of prisoners. This indicates little or no concern that things will fall apart should he depart Burma’s shores.
Friday, 13 January 2012 19:58 Mizzima News
(Editorial) – Burma is on the path to peaceful development but there will be more challenges ahead, in spite of a joyous day in which most of the prominent political prisoners were released.
The scenes of joy over the unexpected release of political prisoners today indicates real change. Those released included well-known 88 Generation Student leader Min Ko Naing, the Shan ethnic nationalities leader Hkun Htun Oo and one of the Saffron Revolution leaders, Ashin Gambia. Even the formerly powerful ex-prime minister and Military Intelligence Chief Khin Nyunt was sprung from incarceration. This is an indication it is not business as usual in Burma. Today’s release of political prisoners was preceded by concrete reformist actions by the new government, notably the decision to halt the Myitsone Dam project financed by China and the cancellation of the 400-megawatt coal-fired power plant in the Dawei Project of Italian-Thai company.
Opening the gates of the prisons today for these people indicates the government has confidence in national reconciliation and is moving towards a more democratic society. But more challenges lie ahead. Burma needs judiciary system, reform of the suffocating bureaucratic system and serious attention to infrastructure and the struggling health and education systems.
That there was a delay in seeing this release was an indication of the struggle behind the scenes between the reformists and the old guard.
Talk of release has been on people’s lips for months. Political leaders like 88-Generation students, the Shan ethnic leaders Khun Htun Oo and former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt are important figures in politics and they have the potential to disturb the tranquillity of the streets and the government's seven-point Road Map to full democracy. However, after the historic move of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to jump into the electoral process, things have truly changed. With the acknowledgement by Western governments and the support of opposition forces – bar a radical minority communist group – Thein Sein’s government appears to have gained the confidence to move forward pursing the electoral process.
Nobody would have believed this if they had been told about it a year ago. President Thein Sein understands that national reconciliation includes the release of political prisoners. This process has been accelerated by today’s action.
There appears to be a tacit understanding for the opposition to stay off the streets. No demonstrations are in the offing. But a lot will depend on whether changes seep through to the grassroots. Certainly the atmosphere on the streets of Rangoon this week was one of more openness with discussion of politics no longer a taboo. Important changes are needed in the country’s budget in sectors like health and education, meaningful change to bureaucratic mechanisms, local administrations, and the judiciary. If this happens in a relatively short period of time, the popularity of the Thein Sein government’s moves will remain and a sense of forgiveness of the previous regime may be realized. If this fails to happen, there may be mass protests with the focus on the environment, land confiscation, corruption, and possibly over the continued armed confrontation in ethnic areas, if tension still exists.
Might there be a backlash from hardliners? Unlikely. The interesting point here is that the military’s Commander in Chief General Min Aung Hlaing was visiting Thailand when the amnesty was announced. Min Aung Hlaing is a member of the 11-member National Security Council, which has the final say on matter like amnesty of prisoners. This indicates little or no concern that things will fall apart should he depart Burma’s shores.
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Mizzima News - Jimmy on way home to meet his daughter
Friday, 13 January 2012 21:00 Phanida
(Interview) – 88-Generation Student leader Jimmy, aka Kyaw Min Yu, who was arrested in 2007 for staging a protest against a price rise in fuel and commodities, was released on Friday from Shan State Taunggyi Prison. His wife Nilar Thein, also an 88-Generation Student leader, was released from Tharyarwaddy Prison. Their daughter Phyu Chi Nay Min was four months old when they were arrested. She is now 5. Mizzima reporter Phanida interviewed Jimmy about the new Burmese government, ethnic affairs, the future of the 88-Generation Students as a political party and other matters.
Question: How are you?
Answer: Releasing prisoners is good, but only 10 out of a total of 11 political prisoners from Taunggyi Prison were released today. One remained in prison. He is Shwe Kyu, a university teacher. It’s not good. They should release everyone. Releasing political prisoners is good for the country. The entire world will appreciate this.
Q: What will you do first after your release?
A: I’ll meet all my friends, and we will make some decisions. We tried hard to reach this goal for many years. Now the government has accepted this path of dialogue, and if they will go along this path, we must cooperate with them in seeking our goals.
Q: Do you have a plan to form an 88-Gen group as a political party and to stand for election?
A: We have not yet decided on this matter. We will make this decision only after meeting with everyone.
Q: How do you see Aung San Suu Kyi’s decision to stand for election?
A: We accept it, and we support this. We have already made a decision to give her as much assistance as we can.
Q: How do you see the democratic changes being made by President Thein Sein’s government?
A: We could read about the activities of President Thein Sein in the weekly journals. These are constructive activities and matters. We profoundly accept that they are doing, what should be done, but I’d like to say there are many more things that should be done. We shall join hands with them for this work, and we shall do these things seriously.
Q: The government is working on reaching cease-fire agreements with ethnic armed groups?
A: This is what really should be done. This is our concept of achieving national reconciliation through dialogue. To reach this goal, we must have cease-fires with all ethnic armed groups and the next step must be reaching the peace goal. No country can develop and progress without national reconciliation. If we accept this concept, we must try hard to achieve peace.
Q: Do you have anything to say to democracy activists at home and abroad?
A: I’d like to say to our colleagues who had to leave country…now we have been released, and we will work for our country, and they have to do so too. They served our country alone before our release. We will try hard to let them come back home and work with us. I’d like to tell them to get ready to work for the future.
Q: And the last question. How do you feel about meeting with your daughter whom you haven’t seen for many years?
A: I feel happy as a father and as a human being.
Friday, 13 January 2012 21:00 Phanida
(Interview) – 88-Generation Student leader Jimmy, aka Kyaw Min Yu, who was arrested in 2007 for staging a protest against a price rise in fuel and commodities, was released on Friday from Shan State Taunggyi Prison. His wife Nilar Thein, also an 88-Generation Student leader, was released from Tharyarwaddy Prison. Their daughter Phyu Chi Nay Min was four months old when they were arrested. She is now 5. Mizzima reporter Phanida interviewed Jimmy about the new Burmese government, ethnic affairs, the future of the 88-Generation Students as a political party and other matters.
Question: How are you?
Answer: Releasing prisoners is good, but only 10 out of a total of 11 political prisoners from Taunggyi Prison were released today. One remained in prison. He is Shwe Kyu, a university teacher. It’s not good. They should release everyone. Releasing political prisoners is good for the country. The entire world will appreciate this.
Q: What will you do first after your release?
A: I’ll meet all my friends, and we will make some decisions. We tried hard to reach this goal for many years. Now the government has accepted this path of dialogue, and if they will go along this path, we must cooperate with them in seeking our goals.
Q: Do you have a plan to form an 88-Gen group as a political party and to stand for election?
A: We have not yet decided on this matter. We will make this decision only after meeting with everyone.
Q: How do you see Aung San Suu Kyi’s decision to stand for election?
A: We accept it, and we support this. We have already made a decision to give her as much assistance as we can.
Q: How do you see the democratic changes being made by President Thein Sein’s government?
A: We could read about the activities of President Thein Sein in the weekly journals. These are constructive activities and matters. We profoundly accept that they are doing, what should be done, but I’d like to say there are many more things that should be done. We shall join hands with them for this work, and we shall do these things seriously.
Q: The government is working on reaching cease-fire agreements with ethnic armed groups?
A: This is what really should be done. This is our concept of achieving national reconciliation through dialogue. To reach this goal, we must have cease-fires with all ethnic armed groups and the next step must be reaching the peace goal. No country can develop and progress without national reconciliation. If we accept this concept, we must try hard to achieve peace.
Q: Do you have anything to say to democracy activists at home and abroad?
A: I’d like to say to our colleagues who had to leave country…now we have been released, and we will work for our country, and they have to do so too. They served our country alone before our release. We will try hard to let them come back home and work with us. I’d like to tell them to get ready to work for the future.
Q: And the last question. How do you feel about meeting with your daughter whom you haven’t seen for many years?
A: I feel happy as a father and as a human being.
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