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Prisoner amnesty expected in Myanmar
Source: Agencies |
November 14, 2011, Monday
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MYANMAR'S government is preparing to release prisoners under an amnesty for the second time in just over a month, and more political detainees should be among them, a senior official said yesterday.
Details of the amnesty would become clear within two days, the official at the interior ministry said, and political detainees, sometimes called "prisoners of conscience," will be included, he said.
"Those referred to as prisoners of conscience will be released very, very soon and the rest of them will be moved to detention centers close to their families," said the official.
Myanmar's new civilian government, which took office on March 30, freed about 230 political detainees in a general amnesty last month, a move welcomed by the West as a sign that the former generals in charge might start to ease their strict control of the country after five decades of military rule.
If the amnesty goes ahead in the next two days, it would coincide with the start of an Association of South East Asian Nations summit on the Indonesian island of Bali.
It would strengthen Myanmar's case for taking the rotating ASEAN presidency in 2014, two years ahead of schedule.
Analysts say hosting the summit would help to satisfy the government's craving for legitimacy and help it to present a case for assistance from international financial institutions to overhaul the resource-rich country's long-stagnant economy.
It also comes as an open letter to President Thein Sein was published yesterday in state-controlled newspapers calling for political prisoners to be freed.
The letter, from the chairman of the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission, Win Mra, said there were about 500 political prisoners who should be freed.
Those who could not be released should be transferred to facilities close to their families, he said.
Details of the amnesty would become clear within two days, the official at the interior ministry said, and political detainees, sometimes called "prisoners of conscience," will be included, he said.
"Those referred to as prisoners of conscience will be released very, very soon and the rest of them will be moved to detention centers close to their families," said the official.
Myanmar's new civilian government, which took office on March 30, freed about 230 political detainees in a general amnesty last month, a move welcomed by the West as a sign that the former generals in charge might start to ease their strict control of the country after five decades of military rule.
If the amnesty goes ahead in the next two days, it would coincide with the start of an Association of South East Asian Nations summit on the Indonesian island of Bali.
It would strengthen Myanmar's case for taking the rotating ASEAN presidency in 2014, two years ahead of schedule.
Analysts say hosting the summit would help to satisfy the government's craving for legitimacy and help it to present a case for assistance from international financial institutions to overhaul the resource-rich country's long-stagnant economy.
It also comes as an open letter to President Thein Sein was published yesterday in state-controlled newspapers calling for political prisoners to be freed.
The letter, from the chairman of the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission, Win Mra, said there were about 500 political prisoners who should be freed.
Those who could not be released should be transferred to facilities close to their families, he said.
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