Political prisoner

On Tuesday, the Burma government handed down a two year jail sentence to writer, Htin Lin Oo for criticizing religious extremism in a speech. The Burma Campaign UK in a media statement, urged the British “Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond to pressure the Burmese government to ensure the immediate unconditional release of Htin Lin Oo and the remaining political prisoners in…

The Burma government continued its crackdown on political activists with the February arrest of two union leaders who demanded a $1 pay rise for garment workers. The Burma Campaign UK, on the eve of May Day, called for the “immediate and unconditional release of two union leaders, Naing Htay Lwin and Myo Min Min.” The Rangoon based union leaders were…

To commemorate the first anniversary of the death of U Win Tin, 21 pro-democracy organizations called for Burma’s Prisoners of Conscience Affairs Committee to be reformed. In a statement the groups said that 21st April, “people around the world will be wearing a blue shirt or blue clothing in memory of U Win Tin, who served nearly 20 years in…

A campaign by the Burma Campaign UK is trying to highlight ongoing human rights abuses in Burma. To make its point, Burma Campaign has delivered more than 2,000 rose-tinted glasses, and issued photo petitions to the British Foreign Office to put pressure on the British government to a “return to putting human rights as their top priority in Burma,” the…

The Burma Campaign UK has launched a campaign calling for the release of a Burmese political activist, Sein Than, currently serving a two-year prison sentence for leading peaceful protests to support people demanding compensation or return of their land confiscated by the government’s military. In a statement released today, the Burma Campaign UK “urged people to email President Thein Sein…

Student activist, Saw Thet Thun was arrested twice – in 1991 and 1999 – spending nearly 20 years in prison, he was released in 2007. Saw Thet Thun recalls some of the horrors he and fellow prisoners faced in those years. “The biggest hardship was being tortured. The prison authorities would treat us as less than human, like dogs. They…

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) criticized the Burma government for failing to keep it’s promise to release all political prisoners, expressing concerns that the number of political prisoners in Burma, following a Presidential amnesty in 2012, is now on the increase. “President U thein Sein announced that he would release all political prisoners in Burma but in reality…

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners has said in a statement that Burma’s government is suppressing the country’s press in ways reminiscent of the country’s previous military dictatorship. The AAPP statement referred to the sentencing of five journalists from Unity Weekly to 10 years imprisonment for allegedly disclosing state secrets and the detainment of a further five journalists from Bi…

A United Nations working group warns that the detention of an ethnic Kachin activist is illegal. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an official ruling that the 21-year prison sentence of the ethnic Kachin activist, Brang Yung, is illegal and demanded his immediate release from Myitkina prison where he is incarcerated. Brang Yung was charged under Article…

Five journalists from Burma’s Unity Journal have been sentenced to 10 years in prison for ‘disclosing state secrets,’ – Amnesty International warned that it was a “dark day for freedom of expression” in Burma. The five Unity Journal journalists were arrested between the 31st of January and the 1st of February following their involvement in an investigative report on an…