Over 100 activists are 'political prisoners'

MORE THAN 100 activists including the imprisoned Kantbalu farmers have been recognised as political prisoners, said Tun Kyi from the Former Political Prisoners Society (FPPS).

This political prisoners’ list has been drawn up by the FPPS and it is working to receive accurate information as the proper definition of the term “political prisoner” has been drafted now, according to him. Farmers who have been imprisoned for staging protests against land confiscation are also included in the list. 

“They were only staging protests due to unfairness, but they have been bullied with charges of harming the interests of others and trespassing. We have started recognising such people as political prisoners. So [the data] must be concise and concrete. We will have to speak with the government whether they accept it or not,” said Tun Kyi.

A total of 56 farmers from Kanbalu Township have been imprisoned and they have been sent to other regional prisons instead of Shwebo Prison, the nearest prison to Kantbalu Township. As there are other farmers facing trials for similar cases, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) is collecting the data to submit to the Political Prisoners Scrutiny Committee, according to Aung Myo Kyaw from the AAPP.

“People who have been charged for protesting for human rights and civil rights and criticising the government’s actions are recognised as political prisoners,” said Ko Ni, a high court lawyer who helped draft the definition of “political prisoner”.

As the protesting farmers could not be charged under the Farmland Law, they were charged under Section 447 for trespassing and Section 427 for harming the interests of others under the Penal Code, according to Su Su Nway, a farmer activist. 

“Although the former prisoners groups said they will not consider those charged under Sections 447, 427, and 18, we requested them to include the farmers in the list. The government couldn’t take them to court under the Farmland Law, but they wanted to oppress the farmers so they charged them under Sections 447 and 427 and sent them to prison. That’s why we urged them that farmers should be recognised as political prisoners. People from their side also supported us, so now the farmers have been included in the list,” said Su Su Nway.

The FPPS and AAPP held a two-day seminar on the definition of “political prisoners” in Yangon on August 17 and 18 and announced that a political prisoner will be defined based on the incident rather than the charges placed against him or her.

MPs from the National League for Democracy will submit this definition as a proposal to parliament to gain recognition from the government, and the two organisations will work hard until a law has been enacted. According to this definition, the Prison Guideline will also need to be amended. 

President Then Sein had pledged to release all political prisoners by the end of 2013, but 29 political prisoners  remain in prison. By the end of July this year, there were more than 70 political prisoners, while 114 were awaiting trial, said AAPP report released last month.