By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar –

Myanmar has released 69 student activists from prison. A town court dropped all charges against the activists, who were detained for over a year after protesting educational reforms last March. An additional 30 students are still being held on bail for similar charges.

The student activists had gathered in Letpadan, a town in central Myanmar, to protest against a law restricting academic freedom. Police used violent force to break up the protests, and many of the students were charged with unlawful assembly and rioting.

The students’ release came soon after Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kii, promised to release all political prisoners in the country. Ms. Suu Kyi has taken on a parliament-created role of state adviser within Myanmar’s government, which will give her a great deal of influence over the country’s affairs. Her first statement as state adviser highlighted her pledge to release all political prisoners, many of whom were arrested prior to Myanmar’s democratic elections late last year.

Around 400 political prisoners remain in prison at this time, and Ms. Suu Kyi has stated that the release of those prisoners has been delayed by necessary legal processes. The remaining political prisoners are set to be released after the Burmese New Year holiday, which ends next week.

Amnesty International has called for Myanmar to release all remaining prisoners of conscience and to ensure reform of laws that violate civil rights including freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly.

In late March, Amnesty published a report on Myanmar emphasizing authorities’ use of laws to silent dissent and to imprison human rights activists. It described such laws and their enforcement as “creating a climate of fear among human rights defenders and other activists in the country.”

Myanmar’s previous government, which was military-run, routinely jailed dissidents. Ms. Suu Kyi herself spent 15 years under house arrest, and several members in her new government are also former political prisoners.

 

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Myanmar: New Suu Kyi Government Releases 69 Prisoners – 8 April 2016

Amnesty International – Release of Student Leader in Myanmar Must Lead to More Reform – 8 April 2016

BBC News – Myanmar Court Frees Dozens of Student Activists – 8 April 2016

The New York Times – Myanmar Releases Dozens of Student Activists From Jail – 8 April 2016