| Burma's Political Prisoner Pretense |
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| Written by Larry Jagan | |
| Monday, 28 September 2009 | |
 The junta seeks to raise its credibility with the United Nations
Although Burma's military rulers have released more than 7,000 prisoners in the last few days as part of their preparations for next year's planned polls, many critics believe it is really a political ploy to ease pressure on them at the UN General Assembly. Most are petty criminals, although around 200 political prisoners are amongst those freed. Some analysts also believe that these releases are intended to increase the credibility of next year's multi-party elections – the first in 20 years. The regime has been constantly told that the polls are critical for Burma's relations with its neighbors and the world as a whole. The polls are dominating everything in Burma at the moment – even though the voting date is yet to be announced, according to diplomats and businessmen in Rangoon. "The elections must be an inclusive and transparent process if they are to be at all credible," the ASEAN secretary-general, Surin Pitsuwan recently told the Asia Sentinel. Although a mass amnesty for political prisoners is part of the junta's seven-stage roadmap to multi-party elections, activists accuse the junta of cynically releasing these political prisoners to deflect international pressure, especially at the United Nations, where the annual general assembly got underway last week and which the current prime minister, junta leader Thein Sein, attended as the leader of a 15-member delegation. It is usually the foreign minister and a large team of diplomats who defend the regime during these UN proceedings. Burma usually comes under intense scrutiny during this meeting. "Every one of these prisoners is a person, and it is unacceptable that the junta uses them as chips to bargain with and play the international community," said David Scott Mathieson, the Thailand-based Burma researcher for the US-group Human Rights Watch. At least 127 political prisoners have been freed according to the Thailand-based group, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners - Burma (AAPPB), which closely monitors the situation inside Burma. So far more than 40 members of Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy have been freed, three of whom were elected as members of parliament in 1990. Six members of the 88 Generation Students group, who were sentenced to more than 60 years in jail for their alleged part in organizing the Buddhist monk-led mass protests two years ago against rising food prices were also among those released from jail. Four monks arrested after the Saffron Revolt in 2007, four journalists, 13 students and a lawyer were also freed, according to the AAPPB. "These releases are a showcase to ease international pressure," Bo Kyi, the head of the AAPPB, said in an interview. "We expect more than 200 to be released within the next few days." The government's announcement last week that exactly 7,114 prisoners were to be released on compassionate ground, came on the eve of the anniversary of the current military rulers ceasing power on 18th September 1988, and the start of the UN's annual meeting in New York. "The choice of 7114 prisoners clearly smacks of the influence of astrologers," said Bertil Lintner, a writer and Burma specialist based in Thailand. "The regime's leaders always consult the astrologers to establish the most auspicious dates and times for key events, and number like this. It is meant to bring them luck." At least another 3,000 prisoners will be released shortly, including a few more political prisoners, according to a senior military source in the Burmese capital Naypyidaw. Some of the political prisoners that have been freed were on the UN's priority list submitted to the junta's leaders by the UN secretary general's special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, earlier this year. The General Secretary, Ban Ki-moon, also raised the issue with the top general Than Shwe during his failed mission to Burma in July, when Ban was refused permission to meet the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. At the time, Ban was promised that a substantial number of political prisoners would be released before the elections in 2010. "The release of some political prisoners last week is a step in the right direction, but it falls short of our expectations," Ban said in a statement released to the press last week after a special meeting of the Friends of Burma group at the UN, which included the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. "All political prisoners must be released -- including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," he insisted. "Clearly, this is a gesture in response to Ban Ki-moon's request, made on behalf of the international community, during his visit to Myanmar earlier this year," the Burma researcher for the UK-based human rights group, Amnesty International, Benjamin Zawacki, said in an interview. "And as such it is disingenuous and insultingly insufficient." Diplomats in Rangoon believe more political prisoners will be released in the coming months, but that it these will be freed in drips and drabs. The junta's seven-stage roadmap to democracy includes a mass amnesty for political prisoners. This was agreed more than five years between the former prime minister, General Khin Nyunt – now under house arrest -- and the UN envoy at the time, Razali Ismail, according to the former UN human rights rapporteur for Burma, Paulo Pinheiro. Few believe that the regime will honor this promise, though a few more political prisoners may see the light of day. "Technically there is still time before the elections for this [recent] mass release to be only the first step -- with many more to follow in quick succession – but all the signs and signals suggest this will not be the case," Zawacki said. "But at the current rate of release -- every six to 12 months -- it will be literally decades before the last of the political prisoners are released. By then, of course, the 2010 elections will have long since passed and many of the prisoners will have served their full terms." "If the SPDC {State Peace and Development Council] was serious about making the elections free and fair, they would all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi," said Zin Linn, a spokesman for the exiled-opposition, based in Thailand. "They may free other activists, but the key opposition leaders will certainly be kept behind bars until after the election," he added. Most analysts and diplomats involved in Burma understand that all political prisoners cannot be released simultaneously. The regime continues to fear that this might spark widespread social unrest and political protests – even though two years after the Saffron Revolt, this seems highly unlikely. "The release of political prisoners is a process, and while they may not all be freed all at once, there must be significant and regular releases," Gambari said in an interview recently. Over the years there have been frequent mass releases of prisoners, usually to signal the start of a new era. In February this year, 6,313 prisoners were released, 31 of whom were political prisoners. This amnesty was to allow the released detainees "to participate in fair elections to be held in 2010," said the state-run media. Most of these political prisoners were on a previous priority list of 200 submitted by the UN, Gambari – who handed the names to the junta's leaders -- told Asia Sentinel. In September 2008, the regime freed 9,002 prisoners; to "turn them into citizens to be able to participate in building a new nation," according to the state-run media. Only nine were political prisoners, including Win Tin, a prominent NLD leader and journalist who had spent 19 years in prison. In an amnesty in November 2007 to mark the conclusion of the National Convention, the junta released 8,585 prisoners, including 20 political prisoners. Another reason for the mass release of prisoners may also be in preparation for a possible crackdown on the opposition during the elections. "The junta cannot afford to allow the campaign to be free and fair," said Bertil Lintner. "They are emptying the jails now to fill them up later – that's what also happened in 1988, ahead of the mass pro-democracy protests, when thousands and thousands of activists were later lock up," he said. But what activists fear is that the regime is up to its old tricks. "The SPDC is still playing games," said Zin Linn. "Cracking down and easing pressure when it suits them, and then re-asserting their power when they need to." It is all part of the military rulers' strategy to keep control and prevent social unrest, according to activists and human rights groups. "Even if a handful of political activists have been free, others are still being arrested," said Human Rights Watch's Mathieson. "The message is clear. "Any threat to the 2010 elections will be dealt with harshly." Human rights groups and activists agree that if the regime is serious about a mass amnesty for political prisoners and a credible election – all political prisoners have to be freed and allowed to participate freely in the elections. "The regime should set up a timetable for the release of all political prisoners," said Bo Kyi. "Otherwise no one will believe they mean to release them before the elections." That seems highly unlikely.
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