New Delhi (Mizzima) – Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma (AAPP-B), urged the international community on Tuesday, to assert more pressure on Burma’s ruling junta to release all political prisoners.
The AAPP-B, formed with Burmese activists and former political prisoners, on Tuesday said, the international community should not be full of praise and be satisfied with the Burmese junta’s release of a few political prisoners, but should intensify pressure on the junta.
Tate Naing, Secretary of the AAPP-B said, “The international community should intensify the pressure on the junta for the release of more political prisoners.”
In a statement, the group said, releasing a few political prisoners could not be termed as development, because the junta was using the release as a tool to ease-off mounting pressure.
“We cannot expect the political situation in Burma to improve just because a few political prisoners have been released. This is just a ploy to try and ease international pressure,” Tate Naing said in the statement.
He said all other political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Tin Oo, ethnic nationality leaders, and the 88 Generation student leaders, must be released if the military government really wanted to progress towards democracy and national reconciliation.
“We urge the international community to pressurize the SPDC more effectively for their release,” said Tate Naing, referring to the junta with its official name – the State Peace and Development Council.
On Friday, Burma’s military rulers announced amnesty for 6313 prisoners, across the country and on Saturday began releasing them. According to activists and UN human rights expert, Tomas Ojea Quintana, about 24 prisoners among those released were prisoners of conscience.
However, the AAPP-B said releasing 24 political prisoners, was too little in number compared to the overall number of more than 2,000 political prisoners, still languishing in jails across Burma.
Tate Naing said the international community, particularly; the United Nations had not put in their utmost effort in pressuring the Burmese authority, to release prisoners of conscience and to implement political reforms in the country.
“The UN should put their utmost efforts and do whatever they can within their mandate and should avoid urging the military government,” Tate Naing said.
But on the other hand, Burma’s military government has constantly denied the presence of political prisoners, and justified that the government had only arrested and sentenced those people, who had committed crimes that were prohibited by the existing law.
UN human rights expert, Tomas Ojea Quintana, who recently concluded a visit to Burma, in an interview to Mizzima said, he had suggested to the Burmese authorities to review its judiciary and to make it independent and impartial, so as to protect the fundamental rights of the people.
The UN envoy also said that the release of 24 political prisoners was a good sign, but not enough to consider as significant development.
Besides Tate Naing said, the UN should not endorse but reject the military junta’s proposed 2010 general elections because it was aimed to legitimize military rule in the country and was being forged against the peoples’ will.
He said, the junta drafted its new constitution without the peoples’ participation and the planned 2010 elections was against the 1990 election results, where Burma’s main opposition party – the National League for Democracy – won a landslide victory.
“So, at least the UN should push the junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi, 88 generation students and 15 Members of Parliament from the 1990 elections,” he added.
