Free Political Prisoners

In an effort to get international sanctions lifted, Burma’s military-backed government has started to release political prisoners. However, hundreds of political prisoners remain in jail.

Most are kept in appalling conditions, sometimes on death row or solitary confinement, in tiny dirty bare concrete cells with just a bucket as a toilet. They are not given proper food to stay healthy, and when they get sick they don’t get proper medical care.

Burma’s government is using political prisoners as human bargaining chips, releasing them to gain positive publicity in an attempt to get sanctions lifted without making fundamental democratic reforms.

Many are released conditionally, and all the laws under which they were jailed remain in place, and must be repealed.

Independent international monitors must be allowed into Burma’s jailed to do a proper assessment of how many political prisoners remain in jail. No political prisoner should be left behind in jail.
The British government must work with the international community to apply pressure on the military government to allow monitors in.

Take action now, write to Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne.

Actions: Free Political Prisoners

Please email Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne.

You can copy and paste a message to the Minister on the Foreign Office website here: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/ministerial-feedback-form

Just choose Burma in the subject menu. It takes only 2 minutes.

You can write your own message, or copy and paste the message below:

Dear Jeremy Browne MP

I am writing to you today regarding political prisoners in Burma. Despite some welcome political change in Burma, including the release of high profile political prisoners, hundreds of political prisoners remain in jail. The international community must not forget those political prisoners still left behind in Burma’s jails.

In addition, the way in which political prisoners are being released raises concerns that rather than releasing political prisoners because it is the right thing to do, they are being treated as bargaining chips in a tit-for-tat process in getting sanctions lifted and gaining international legitimacy.

Some of those recently released have been arrested and released on several occasions to try to avoid international pressure. In the recent high profile releases, activists actually had sentences suspended, they were not pardoned. If they are arrested again, they will serve the new prison terms, and the old prison term they didn’t finish serving will be added to it. The laws that put them in prison still remain in place.

There are still political prisoners in jail, kept in inhumane conditions, and the government of Burma officially denies the existence of those political prisoners. It is important that independent international monitors be given access to Burma’s prisons and are able make an independent assessment of how many political prisoners remain in jail.

The British government has always been supportive of Burma’s democracy movement. Gaining access to Burma’s prisons by independent monitors should be a top foreign policy goal of the British government with regard to Burma. I ask that you work to gain broad international support from the European Union and United Nations for such a process to happen. No political prisoner should be left behind in Burma’s jails.

Yours sincerely