Committee asked to push for release of former spy chief’s son-in-law -DVB

Committee asked to push for release of former spy chief’s son-in-law Posted: 31 May 2013 04:50 AM PDT The government-backed political prisoner scrutiny committee has been asked to push for the release of former prime minister and spy chief Khin Nyunt's son-in-law during the next presidential amnesty. Following the purges of the government's military intelligence branch in 2004, Tin Htut was sentenced to 146 years in prison. The purges, which also led to the arrest of Khin Nyunt, have largely been described as the result of a power struggle, between the prime minister and junta strongman Than Shwe. According to Ye Aung of the Former Political Prisoners Organisation, Tin Htut's father Paw Khin Than sent a letter to the committee through the President's Office asking the group to press for his son’s release. Since taking power in 2011, Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government has released more than 22,000 detainees in 10 general amnesties. Of these, 908 people have been identified as political prisoners by the Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP-B). In January 2012, Khin Nyunt along with his sons were released during a presidential amnesty, while the former majority shareholder of the Myanmar Times and son of a military intelligence officer, Sonny Swe, who was imprisoned in 2005 as part of the purges, was released from prison in late April this year. Although the series of amnesties has brought Thein Sein international praise, rights groups have criticised the government for continually using political prisoners as pawns to garner goodwill with western governments. While the government-backed political prisoner scrutiny committee was created in February to vet the remaining political prisoners of conscious in the country, committee members have complained the process lacks transparency and genuine consultation. During the most recent amnesty on 17 May, committee members said prisoner release lists were compiled in secret by the Prison Department and the President's Office and then passed onto the committee to be endorsed. "U Aung Thein and U Soe Thane are eager to credit prisoner releases to the work of the verification committee, when in fact the releases are not supported by all members and not all members are included in any meaningful way in the release process," said the AAPP-B's Aung Myo Thein during an interview with DVB after the amnesty. More than 180 political prisoners are still incarcerated in Burma, which does not include Tin Htut, according to a list compiled by AAPP-B. According to the scrutiny committee, political prisoners are defined as "any individual who is detained or being legally punished for participating in various forms of political activity due to a belief that it would serve the interest of the country and its people or that the people are suffering, and any individual persecuted by a government or a government authority with a political motive."

Former political prisoners struggle to find work Posted: 31 May 2013 02:21 AM PDT Since President Thein Sein came to power in 2011, over nine hundred political prisoners have been released. But many who have been freed are struggling to fit back into society. Their friends and family sometimes shun them because they are afraid to be associated with a political prisoner. And finding work is extremely difficult. Ko Swe speaks to two former political prisoners who are trying to rebuild their lives.

Philippines protest Burma’s handling of SEA games Posted: 30 May 2013 10:46 PM PDT The Philippines said Thursday it would send a tiny delegation to this year’s Southeast Asian Games in Burma to protest the host’s “unfair” exclusion of mainstream sports. Between 30 and 50 Filipino athletes are expected to compete in Burma compared with 512 at the 2011 SEA Games in Indonesia, Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richie Garcia told AFP. “We’re doing this to protest the unfair changes to the event that Myanmar (Burma) is making,” Garcia said. Burma announced in January that it was excluding Olympic sports such as tennis and gymnastics from the Games, prompting accusations by rivals it was cherry-picking events to help home athletes. Burma has included events such as chinlone, a dance-like sport, and bodybuilding. Garcia said he would not attend the Games in December, and was urging his colleagues on the sports commission also to boycott them. He said he would like to see a standardised roster of events in time for the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore. But Singapore Games organising chief Lim Teck Yin this week backed Burma’s move to include home-grown sports, telling AFP it helped maintain tradition and develop regional character.

Kachin and gov’t reach agreement Posted: 30 May 2013 10:35 PM PDT The Kachin Independence Organisation and it’s armed wing the KIA signed a 7-point agreement with government peace negotiators in Myitkyina on Thursday.