Newsgroups: bit.listserv.seasia-l
Date:         Wed, 14 Oct 1992 10:19:13 PDT
From:         "(Coban Tun)" <tun@QUARK.SFSU.EDU>
Subject:      Burma: Letter from AI

/* Written 11:16 pm  Oct 13, 1992 by NOSCA@f214.n61.z90.pegasus.oz.au in
 cdp:reg.seasia */
/* ---------- "MYANMAR: 1600 political prisoners" ---------- */
[Forwarded by NOSCA in peg:reg.seasia on 13/10/92].

 * Forwarded from "AI.GENERAL"
 * Originally from aiusala@igc.org
 * Originally dated 10-11-92 18:53

From: aiusala@igc.org
Date: 10 Oct 92 22:22 EST
Newsgroups: ai.general

Amnesty International
International Secretariat
1 Easton Street
London WC1X 8DJ
United Kingdom

EXTERNAL 9 October 1992

MYANMAR: AI CONCERNED THAT AT LEAST 1600 POLITICAL
PRISONERS REMAIN DETAINED WITHOUT TRIAL OR AFTER UNFAIR
TRIAL

     Amnesty International is concerned that at least 1600
political prisoners remain imprisoned without trial or after
trials which fell far short of international standards for
fair trial in the Union of Myanmar (Burma), which continues
to be ruled under Martial Law.

      On 26 September 1992, the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC), the military body which rules
Myanmar, revoked Martial Law Orders Nos. 1/89 and 2/89.
These orders had granted martial law powers to commanders in
three military regions and established military tribunals to
try all martial law offenders.

      Despite the abolition of the military tribunals
established in July 1989 and the release of over 500
political prisoners since April 1992, many hundreds of
political prisoners sentenced by these unfair courts remain
imprisoned and are being denied redress.  Other martial law
orders which have been used to arrest hundreds of political
prisoners remain in force.  These include Order No. 2/88,
which prohibits gatherings of more than five people on the
streets, and Notification 8/88, which prohibits public
criticism of the military.

      Political prisoners still held include the Venerable U
Kaweinda, a Buddhist monk who was active in the 1988 pro-
democracy movement.  He was arrested in June 1989 in
Mandalay and sentenced on unknown charges to seven years'
imprisonment.  Many students who also participated in the
1988 protest against military rule remain in detention.
Aung Din, a prisoner of conscience and student leader, was
arrested in April 1989 and is held at Yangon's Insein Prison
along with hundreds of other political prisoners.  U Hla
Wai, also a prisoner of conscience, was an election
candidate for opposition political party the Democratic
Party for a New Society (DPNS) and was arrested on the eve
of the election in May 1990.

      Civilian courts continue to function alongside
military tribunals, but do not guarantee defendants a fair
trial. The procedures stipulated for use in civilian courts
formally appear to meet international standards for
fairness, but in practice the independence of the civilian
judiciary has been undermined as a result of intimidation by
the military authorities.  Judges and lawyers who have
attempted to exercise their independence have at times been
arrested.  Furthermore, restrictions placed on political
prisoners' access to legal counsel deny them the opportunity
to prepare a proper defence.

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Australia(NOSCA) (90:61/214)
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