World

Myanmar Frees Political Prisoners

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

September 26, 2000 / 10:30 PM EDT / CBS

In another sign of improving relations between Myanmar's military government and the opposition, authorities released from prison 84 members of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, a senior party official said Friday.

The 84, including 38 women, included party members who were arrested in April, August and September last year. They were released in small groups from Yangon's Insein prison on Thursday, the NLD official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Burma or Myanmar?

The 1988 military crackdown in what was then called "Burma" has led to disagreement over what the country should now be called.

Since the military government changed the name in 1989, the country has referred to itself as "Myanmar." The United Nations also calls it "Myanmar." The United States and many human rights groups continue to call it Burma.

The Myanmar government contends that "Myanmar" is not an invention of the military rulers, but rather the name the country went by before it was colonized by Britain.

But the Burma Project, a human rights group, says "Myanmar" is just an English transliteration of the way "Burma" is said in Burmese, not an authentic name.

Myanmar's mission to the U.N. says, "Refusing to call a nation by its proper official name may seem insignificant to some but generate resentment among a very high majority of the Myanmar population."

But the Burma Project contends, "such a serious action as changing a country's name should only be taken with the consent of its peoples."

There's even disagreement over the name of the country's capital. Myanmar says the capital of Myanmar is "Yangon." Others say the capital of Burma is "Rangoon."

The releases came as tensions are showing signs of easing between the NLD and the ruling military, following secret talks between the two sides over the past four months aimed at breaking a decade-long political impasse in this Southeast Asian nation.

The NLD reported the release of 20 of the activists on Thursday. The rest were freed later in the day. Jubilant party members, including those freed, gathered Friday at the NLD headquarters in the Yangon, the capital.

Suu Kyi, the party leader, remains under virtual hose arrest, with access to her tightly controlled.

"I will continue with my party activities," said one of the released prisoners, Ma Khine, 32. "That was my third time in prison and hopefully my last."

The senior NLD leader said most of the 84 were NLD youth members. Thirty-one were arrested in April when Suu Kyi was trying to organize the party's youth wing in Yangon. Two others were arrested in August, after Suu Kyi was engaged in a nine-day standoff with the government, blocked by authorities when she tried to travel outside the capital.

The other 51 were rounded up early on Sept. 22, when the NLD leader and party vice-chairman Tin Oo attempted to travel to the northern city of Mandalay by train. All the detainees from that incident have now been released, according to the NLD.

The Myanmar government issued no immediate comment on the prison releases.

Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Prize laureate, and seven other NLD leaders were confined to their homes on Sept. 22, but the travel bans on all but Suu Kyi and party Chairman Aung Shwe were lifted on Dec. 1.

Tin Oo, 74, had been detained at a military camp but was released Wednesday night. He was still barred from receiving visitors Friday.

Meanwhile, the humble NLD headquarters was bustling with excited party members greeting those released, most of whom said they were not treated badly, even though some had lost weight. Ma Khine said they were freed unconditionally.

Suu Kyi is engaged in a decade-old political deadlock with Myanmar's military junta, which crushed a pro-democracy uprising in 1988.

In 1990, the generals called a national election that was won by the NLD in a landslide, but the military refused to honor the results and imposed severe restrictions on league members.

However, following recent talks between the two sides, mediated by U.N. special envoy Razali Ismail, a thaw between the opposing sides appears to be under way.

Cartoons and articles attacking the NLD in official media have suddenly stopped, and the pro-democracy forces have toned down their antimilitary statements.