Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to let you know that a number of human rights defenders on whose behalf we have campaigned in recent years have been released from imprisonment in Burma, as well as some of those who were involved in the September 2007 protests.
DETAINEES RELEASED:
The AHRC continues to receive information about the release of people in Burma who have until now been unlawfully detained, a number of them from the local Human Rights Defenders and Promoters (HRDP) group. We have already issued an update on two journalists just freed (UAU-023-2009).
We have since learned that five of the ‘Hinthada 6’ local activists and HRDP members were released from prison in Hinthada last week. They are U Hla Shein, U Win, U Myint, U Mya Sein and U Kyaw Lwin. Sadly one of the six, U Myint Naing, remains in prison and we ask that you continue to offer your support via our campaign page: http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/hinthada6/.
HRDP member and tuition teacher Min Min was released from Lashio Prison in Shan State; for details of his case see UP-105-2007, while two others from the group were released from Taunggoo Prison. Ko Thet Oo and Ko Zaw Htun were detained during the September 2007 protests (OL-035-2007).
Aside from members of the HRDP, a number of others who were unlawfully detained and charged after the 2007 protests have also gone free. So far we have been informed that they include:
1. Pyi Phyoe Aung, from the Irrawaddy Delta, who was released from Pa-an Prison, Karen State; he was one of nine people accused of organizing the protests and his co-defendants are believed to be still in jail (see UAC-025-2009).
2. Khin Moe Aye, from Rangoon, convicted in a currency offence at the time of the protests (see case no. 10); her co-defendant was not released.
3. Sandar Min, who was detained at Myaung Mya Prison in the delta after the first protests in August 2007 (see UP-114-2007).
Thank you to everyone who acted upon and took an interest in these cases.
STILL INSIDE:
Aside from U Myint Naing, other members of the HRDP remain in prison, including the group’s founder, U Myint Aye, who has been falsely accused of masterminding bombings in the former capital, Rangoon (AHRC-UAU-018-2009), and Ko Thiha, who was also detained in September 2007 (AHRC-UAC-052-2008).
Hundreds of other people detained during or after the September 2007 protests still remain in prison, including those in the following cases: AHRC-UAC-007-2009; AHRC-UAC-004-2009; AHRC-UAU-006-2009; AHRC-UAC-002-2009; AHRC-UAU-070-2008; AHRC-UAC-248-2008; AHRC-UAC-246-2008; AHRC-UAC-223-2008; AHRC-UAU-061-2008.
See also other recent wrongful and arbitrary imprisonment cases in Burma: AHRC-UAU-024-2009; AHRC-UAC-110-2009; AHRC-UAC-107-2009;AHRC-UAC-074-2009; AHRC-UAC-040-2009; AHRC-UAC-009-2009.
Please keep up the advocacy to have all of these detainees released, and for the International Committee of the Red Cross to again have access to Burma’s prisons.
Thank you
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) (ua@ahrchk.org)
