Amnesty International condemns dete

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Subject: Amnesty International condemns detention of at least 220 pro-democracy activists.



MYANMAR : AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNS
DETENTION OF AT LEAST 220 PRO-DEMOCRACY
ACTIVISTS 

24 MAY 1996 

Amnesty International today strongly condemned the detention of some 220
pro-democracy activists -- mostly members of parliament-elect -- by the
military authorities over the past four days. 

"It is outrageous that these pro-democracy activists were arrested simply for
planning to attend a meeting next week," Amnesty International said today.
"The military authorities may have described the round-up as a pre-emptive
measure', but it clearly shows their inability to tolerate any form of 
dissent." 

Amnesty International welcomes the public condemnation made by the
Australian, Japanese, British and US governments, but is calling on more
governments -- particularly members of ASEAN -- to put pressure on the
Myanmar authorities about human rights concerns during Myanmar's Year of
Tourism. 

Most of those arrested are members of parliament-elect of the National
League for Democracy (NLD, the opposition party founded by Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi) which is planning a meeting at Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's home
to mark the sixth anniversary of its victory in the elections. The 
meeting is to
take place from 26-29 May. The arrests have been widely seen as a attempt
by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC, Myanmar's
military authorities) to prevent the meeting from occurring. Amnesty
International is concerned that the military authorities have arrested a 
further
nine NLD youth activists today. 

The scale of these arrests is the largest to take place in Myanmar since the
mass detentions in 1990. The current wave of arrests began on 20 May and
at last report is still continuing throughout the country. Amnesty 
International
has obtained the names of 101 of those who have been arrested and believes
that the numbers of those detained are likely to increase. 

The authorities have apparently not brought charges against members of the
group, who are being detained at unknown locations around the country. It is
likely that they are being held in incommunicado detention, which in Myanmar
is a standard practice before political detainees are tried and sentenced.
Amnesty International is concerned that the MPs could be facing torture and
ill-treatment and seeks assurances from the Myanmar authorities that they
have access to proper medical care, their families and lawyers. 

Amnesty International is calling for the immediate and unconditional 
release of
all those arrested solely for exercising their right to freedom of 
expression and
association. It is also seeking information about the whereabouts of all 
those
detained and the exact charges against them. 

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BACKGROUND

Tension in Myanmar has mounted recently between the SLORC and the
NLD. Attacks against the NLD in the government-controlled press have
increased markedly. 

According to reports, the SLORC stated publicly on 23 May that the activists
are being held for questioning and are not in fact imprisoned. The SLORC
also stated that they were being treated well. The reason given for their
detention was that they had taken a "confrontational stance" with regards to
the SLORC. It is unclear from government statements whether the activists
will be released shortly or whether they will continue to be detained. 


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Secretariat of Amnesty International. 

[Amnesty International]

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