March 23, 2001

Today, March 23, 2001 is the first anniversary of Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) (AAPP). AAPP have been founded to report the condition of the political prisoners who are detained in Burma's prisons.

Moreover, today is the 12th anniversary of the arrest of Min Ko Naing, the leader of Burmese students. He was arrested on March 23, 1989 because he led the human rights and student rights activities as the chairperson of All Burma Federation of Students' Unions.

However, the authorities' press conference on March 24, 1989 said that Min Ko Naing (a) Paw Oo Tun had been carrying out illegal organizational work and giving speeches. Furthermore, he has been found to have repeatedly violated Order No 2/88 (forbidding gatherings of more than four people). He was refused legal defense and sentenced to15 year-imprisonment.

This is an example of how the authorities disobeyed the Articles 18, 19, 20 and 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which was signed by Burma in 1948. The Burmese authorities banned the right of freedom of speech regarding one's belief, which is described in the UDHR.

In January 1993, Min Ko Naing's 15 years sentenced was commuted to 10 years under a general amnesty. Today, he is still detained although his prison term is finished and he has already served exactly 12 years in jail.

Hundreds and thousands of democracy and human rights activists have been arrested tortured and imprisoned for their peaceful activities since the 1988 military coup until now. As a result, students and teachers are in prisons instead of working on education in the class. Members of parliament are also in prisons rather than in the parliament after the 1990 general elections. Journalists, writers, ethnic political leaders, women, democracy and human rights activists are in the Burmese prisons and detention centers. Most were sentenced to long term imprisonment and facing everyday the violation of human rights by the military intelligence personnel and prison staffs.

Like Min Ko Naing, there are at least 45 political prisoners who have already finished their prison term around the prisons of the country. They were sentenced to long-term imprisonment for their participation in the democracy and human rights activities. These prison sentences were given illegally, and illegally these political prisoners are still detain after their imprisonments are finished.

We want the ASEAN governments who are very closed to the Burmese military to understand that there are many political prisoners in the Burmes prisons for their political beliefs. We want the Japanese government, who is supporting mentally and economically the Burmese authorities, to know that the junta is solving the political problem by arresting the activists. We request those governments to put pressure on the Burmese junta to respect the human values and rights. We announce that the condition in the prisons, such as the health care system and the treatment to prisoners, are still extremely bad despite and have not improved although the dissident leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the Burmese military leaders have been talking directly for the last 6 months.

Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma)