The former President of the United States, who has called for the release of students arrested after Tuesday’s violent crackdown. PHOTO/ WIKICOMMONS
Former President of the United States George W. Bush has added his voice to the growing international outcry over the violent suppression of student protest in Myanmar.
In a joint statement, he and his wife, Laura Bush, called for the release of those arrested after a violent crackdown on demonstrators in Letpadan on Tuesday, after it emerged that one of those detained worked with the Bush Institute.
Phyoe Phyoe Aung, general secretary for the All-Burma Federation of Student Unions and a member of the Institute’s Youth and Leadership Forum, was among more than 120 other demonstrators rounded up, MSNBC reported.
“We are deeply concerned about the recent arrests of peaceful demonstrators in Burma by local authorities,” the former president and first lady said in the joint statement released Thursday and quoted by MSNBC.
“Like Phyoe Phyoe Aung, many of the demonstrators are students working to support Burma’s transition by advocating for a transparent and accountable education system. Education is vital to the political, economic and social well-being of every nation and people. We hope that those arrested will soon be released.”
Phyoe Phyoe Aung, who spent three years in prison after the Saffron Revolution of 2007, was commended as a “commanding presence” by Elizabeth Hoffman, program manager of the George W. Bush Institute’s Freedom Advocate Initiative, in a post on the organisation’s website.
“When she speaks, people listen.”
Just under half of demonstrators arrested have been green-lighted for release but the rest will remain behind bars until the government determines if they are ‘real students’, The Myanmar Times reported Friday.
Earlier this week, the US State Department condemned the violence, along with numerous international human rights groups.
