Linked with our presentation of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners – Burma AAPP.
Linked also with our presentation of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy – Burma.
Hkun Oo Kya, elder brother of Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) leader Hkun Tun Oo, both of whom were detained and sentenced to long term imprisonments, was transferred from Kyaukme in northern Shan State to Mandalay early in May, according to sources close to the family … (Read this on June 2, 2006 on Shan Herald Agency for News).
Khun Htun Oo – Burma
June 1, 2006: The Supreme Court in Rangoon on Thursday summarily rejected appeals by seven Shan leaders against their conviction and lengthy prison sentences on charges of treason and defaming the state. An eighth member of the group of defendants died in prison, reportedly of epilepsy, before his appeal could be heard. The eight were convicted by a Rangoon court last November and given sentences of up to 106 years imprisonment. That heavy sentence was imposed on Maj-Gen Sao Hso Ten, president of the Shan State Peace Council. Hkun Htun Oo, chairman of the Shan National League for Democracy, was sentenced to 92 years, and Sai Nyut Lwin, SNLD general secretary, to 75 years. Aung Thein, a member of a defense team provided by Burma’s opposition National League for Democracy, told The Irrawaddy the appeals had been summarily dismissed with no explanation.
A notice from the judge, Tin Aye, reading simply “All applications rejected,” had been tacked to a notice board outside the Supreme Court. (Read all on this page of The Irrawaddy News.
Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the current situation in Burma/Myanmar – Brussels, 30 May 2006 – The EU notes with deep concern that the process of democratisation in Burma/Myanmar has recently suffered a worrying setback as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has stepped up its pressure against ethnic groups and the two main political parties, the National League for Democracy and the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy. The EU notes that the actions of the SPDC clearly contradict its professed intention to establish a genuine democratic nation. (Read the rest of this articl on Relief Web).
An Arakanese MP from the Arakan League for Democracy, or ALD, has recently fled to Thailand to avoid punitive action by the military authorities because he is a presidium member of the United Nationalities Alliance, which is a political body formed by 8 ethnic nationalities groups, including the ALD. « Military intelligence began to follow me after our two Shan leaders – Khun Tun Oo and Sai Nyunt Lwin from SNLD and UNA – were arrested by the Burmese military junta, » U Aung Tun Sein, the elected MP from Ponna Kyunt Township in Arakan, told Narinjara yesterday by phone. « If I continue to live in Burma, I could be arrested by the authorities at any time, that is the reason why I came to the outside, » he said. (Read the whole article on narinjara.com).
Excerpts: … Khun Htun Oo, Chairman of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, is currently serving a 93 year prison sentence in remote Puta-O prison in northern Kachin State … Nothing is more revealing about the situation of human rights in a country than the existence of political prisoners. They embody the denial of the most basic freedoms essential to humankind, such as freedom of opinion and assembly. Moreover, the very manner in which such persons are treated further reflects upon the level of esteem in which a Government holds its own people. At least 1,156 of Myanmar’s citizens are behind bars, without access to the guarantees of due process, for the exercise of their political rights. The judicial system, far from affording individuals basic standards of justice, is employed by the Government as an instrument of repression to silence dissent. (Read more on AAPP, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, Burma).
I have read the Free all Political Prisoners in Burma-Petition to UN Security Council, ASEAN, and World Leaders, and I hereby Sign the petition here.
links:
Politics of Myanmar on wikipedia;
The Irrawaddy News present their vision of the Chronology of the National Convention (NC) since April 24, 1992 to March 30, 2004.
see daily more on Google News/Khun Htun Oo;
The Wall Street Journal online on May 15, 2006;