Unlawfully Detained Trade Union Members Released

The five members of FTUB who were arrested unlawfully on April 1, 2009, are back in their homes in Rangoon   It was through international solidarity that the five were released.  The charges on which they were arrested were never announced, and the FTUB strongly condemns these unlawful arrests.   

The following five FTUB members were released on 10 April 2009. 

1. U Zaw Myint Aung   (49 years old, Teacher, South Okkalapa, Rangoon)
2. U Soe Oo             (37 years old, Textile Factory Worker, Shwe Pyi Thar, Rangoon)
3. Maung Tun Nyein     (22 years old, Worker, Shwe Hninsi Textile factory, Hlaing Thayar, Rangoon)
4. Ms. Khine Lin Myat   (22 years old, Worker, UMH Textile factory)
5. Ms. Shwe Yi Nyunt   (25 years old, Nurses Aide and Law Student, University of Western
Rangoon, and Member, FTUB Women’s Committee)

A number of the family members of these five were also arrested.  They have now all been released.

On behalf of the released members and their families, FTUB extends its thanks and continuing appreciation to all international and national trade unons who responded to our call, including those unions affiliated to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the Global Union Federations, the ITUC-Asia/Pacific, and the Asean Trade Union Council (ATUC).  We also wish to thank the ILO for its prompt intervention, and add our sincere appreciation to those national Governments who took up the cause of our members.

FTUB requests the international trade union movement, the ITUC and its members, as well as the ILO to assist the development of the workers’ social and economic conditions in Burma by continuing with the following demands upon the SPDC Burma regime:

1. The SPDC must gaurentee that the five who were unlawfully arrested and relased do not loose their jobs.
2. The SPDC must strictly abide by ILO Convention 87 of the International Labour Organization on Freedom of Association, which Burma has ratifed, as well as all International Core Labour Standards, which Burma is required as a member of the ILO to enforce. 
3. The SPDC must denounce the actions of the authorities involved in arresting our members, and immediately order an end to all actions to prevent workers from forming trade unions and exercising their labour rights in Burma.

For more information: 
U Maung Maung, General Secretary, Tel./Thailand: (66-86) 090 5672

Click here for more information on Political Prisoners In Burma

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