Release of Prisoners Mustn’t Hide the Junta’s Cruelty
That those Myanmar nationals who remain in the country can be rearrested at any time is an ongoing physical and psychological threat that the junta has shown it is willing to go through with.
The release this week of 161 political prisoners, including high profile foreigners, should not detract from the atrocities that the Myanmar junta continues to carry out against the people of Myanmar. For those who oppose the junta in any way, they remain vulnerable to arrest, torture or extrajudicial killings, and indiscriminate attacks against innocent people.
The junta announced a release order, published on 17 November, that 5,774 prisoners would be released to mark Myanmar’s National Day. Of these 5,774, the monitoring group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), has documented that 161 are political prisoners. High profile individuals released include 88 Generation leader, Ko Mya Aye, and filmmaker Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi. Four foreign nationals were released including Burmese American and former political prisoner of the 88 generation, Kyaw Htay Oo and Australian economist and advisor to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Sean Turnell. Many innocent people remain in prison, including activists, journalists, celebrities, writers, and thousands of ordinary people. In fact, there are more political prisoners – nearly 13,000 – than ever before, as stated by Burma Campaign UK.
This is a typical tactic used not only by this junta, but previous military juntas often timed in anticipation of high-profile diplomatic occasions. While there is speculation that the junta was attempting to garner goodwill ahead of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Thailand, this does not disguise that these people should never have been in prison in the first place. They were arrested, charged and imprisoned on trumped up charges because the junta viewed them as a threat to their illegitimate and failed power grab. As US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken stated regarding the release, “It is one bright spot in what is otherwise an incredibly dark time, where we see things going from bad to worse in Burma.” That those Myanmar nationals who remain in the country can be rearrested at any time is an ongoing physical and psychological threat that the junta has shown it is willing to go through with. This is evidenced in the example of the ethnic Karen reggae singer, Saw Phoe Kwar, who was rearrested within one day of his release, and sent back to prison to serve another year of unjust punishment. This is not a new tactic, and the conditional release with threat and actualization of rearrest is part of the junta’s psychological warfare. As Ko Bo Kyi, co-founder of AAPP, wrote after a previous mass release in October 2021, “re-arrests are motivated by the desire of the military to psychologically intimidate others.”
It is disappointing that the ASEAN Special Envoy to Myanmar, “considers this mass release as an important gesture in the right direction to create a conducive environment for the commencement of a dialogue process among all concerned parties in Myanmar.” This fawning over potential compromise is wrong. The junta has no intention of compromise. This is evidenced by the continued atrocities that the junta commits on a daily basis. In the same week that the release occurred the junta launched airstrikes in Karen State against a mining operation, killing three miners and injuring a further six people. In northern Rakhine State, the use of heavy artillery in two villages by the junta killed ten people, including two children as they shelled a child’s naming ceremony in one of the villages. Junta raids in Sagaing Region in the past week have left 14 people, including a 14 year old boy dead while in Karenni State, junta shelling hit a nursery, killing a 5 year old girl, injuring a 9-month old baby and injuring several others. The deaths of these children add to a growing tally of hundreds of children murdered by the junta in their campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar. The passing of World Children’s Day on 20 November brings home the senselessness and barbarity of these attacks. They are not an indication that the junta is in the business of “important gestures” in the right direction.
The statement by the ASEAN Special Envoy is therefore a worrying sign of ASEAN’s lack of coordinated action regarding the Myanmar junta. As Thailand hosts the APEC Summit, ASEAN as a bloc, as well as individual member states must not lose sight of the atrocities and horrific terror that the illegitimate military junta is inflicting on the population. Rather, it must ditch the failed Five Point Consensus, include the legitimate representatives of Myanmar – the National Unity Government – in all summits and platforms, and support a resolution at the UN Security Council. Now is not the time to pander to the junta’s cynical releases of a handful of the many thousands it is illegitimately keeping behind bars. Rather, it must see through such a ploys and ramp up pressure so that Myanmar can achieve genuine change.
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[1] One year following the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, the former military junta changed the country’s name from Burma to Myanmar overnight. Progressive Voice uses the term ‘Myanmar’ in acknowledgement that most people of the country use this term. However, the deception of inclusiveness and the historical process of coercion by the former State Peace and Development Council military regime into usage of ‘Myanmar’ rather than ‘Burma’ without the consent of the people is recognized and not forgotten. Thus, under certain circumstances, ‘Burma’ is used.
Resources from the past week
Statements and Press Releases
Myanmar: Thousands ‘languishing’ in prison released including former British ambassador
By Amnesty International
By ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights
New Report Shows that National Laws Threaten Religious Diversity and Freedoms in Southeast Asia
By ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights
Press Statement: Burma’s 2022 National Day Prison Releases
By Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Statement Update on November 17 Political Prisoner Releases
By Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Record High of 13,000 Political Prisoners in Burma
By Burma Campaign UK
By European Union
By Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor
By Network for Human Rights Documentation Burma
By National Unity Government (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
“Statement on Releasing of Political Prisoners Arbitrarily Detained by Terrorist Military”
By National Unity Government
“(၁၀၂) နှစ်မြောက်အမျိုးသားအောင်ပွဲနေ့ သဝဏ်လွှာ”
By National Unity Government
UN Special Envoy Heyzer calls for release of all children and political prisoners in Myanmar
By Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar
By Progressive Voice , ALTSEAN-Burma , FORUM-ASIA
Myanmar/Bangladesh: New Report Reveals Rohingya Loss of Language, Culture, and Identity
By Rohingya Language Preservation Project
UN Support Imperative: Strengthening Weak ASEAN Actions on Myanmar
By Special Advisory Council for Myanmar
By United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
နိုင်ငံတကာအမျိုးသမီးများအပေါ် အကြမ်းဖက်မှု ပပျောက်ရေးနေ့ အထိမ်းအမှတ် ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာချက်
By Women’s League of Burma
Reports
Restricting Diversity: Mapping Legislation on Freedom of Religion or Belief in Southeast Asia
By ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights
Attacks on Health Care in Myanmar (02-15 November 2022)
By Insecurity Insight
Monitoring the Agri-food System in Myanmar – Rice Millers – August 2022 survey round
By International Food Policy Research Institute
Report of the Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair on Myanmar to the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits
By Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia
By Myanmar Witness
By Network for Human Rights Documentation Burma
By Rohingya Language Preservation Project
Position Paper on the Rights to Customary Land and Practice Systems in Myanmar
By Transnational Institute
Progressive Voice is a participatory, rights-based policy research and advocacy organization that was born out of Burma Partnership. Burma Partnership officially ended its work on October 10, 2016 transitioning to a rights-based policy research and advocacy organization called Progressive Voice. For further information, please see our press release “Burma Partnership Celebrates Continuing Regional Solidarity for Burma and Embraces the Work Ahead for Progressive Voice.”
