Here’s an only-slightly Orwellian way for the government to address the problem of political prisoners – of which it insists there are none remaining in Myanmar: ban the phrase!
The Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Brig-Gen Kyaw Kyaw Tun told parliament on Tuesday that the term ‘political prisoners’ was unconstitutional and violates the right of prisoners to the same legal status.
It will therefore be excluded from official use, according to state-run newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar.
Opposition MPs had been pushing for a definition of the phrase to be included in a draft prison bill.
“It should be defined in the law … and the rights of such prisoners should be elaborated in additional sections to protect them,” Aung Kyi Nyunt, a former political prisoner and lawmaker who represents the NLD, was quoted as saying in the Myanmar Times.
A working definition compiled with help from legal experts, politicians and former prisoners, would have defined the term anyone detained or imprisoned for promoting civil rights, freedom and equality or for participating in anti-government protests.
But Brig-Gen Kyaw Kyaw Tun cited the potential for inequality in the prison system as a reason to exclude the term.
“If some prisoners across the country are given particular rights under the category of political prisoners, then that special class of inmates can make other prisoners feel jealous and insignificant,” he said.
Despite the release of large numbers of activists since the transition to semi-civilian government in 2012, many are still behind bars.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners puts the number at 138 in jail and a further 452 waiting to be tried.
Authorities forcibly move a student protester in Letpadan earlier this year. PHOTO/AFP
