While welcoming Burma’s release of political prisoners on Tuesday, Amnesty International (AI) said it is “shameful” that the government continues to imprison hundreds of its citizens “just for exercising their basic rights to freedom of expression and assembly.”
“All prisoners of conscience must be released immediately," said Frank Jannuzi, the AI head, in a statement.
He said the international media attention on Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of the political opposition “must now be directed to the suffering of Myanmar’s ethnic minorities. In its rush to improve diplomatic and business relations, the United States must not allow the continued plight of the Rohingyas, Kachin and other ethnic minorities to be swept aside.”
According to the website of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners – Burma, 25 political prisoners were included in an amnesty release of 46 prisoners on Tuesday.
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 3 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide.
