ABSDF SUPPORT FOR NOMINATION OF MIN

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Subject: ABSDF SUPPORT FOR NOMINATION OF MIN KO NAING FOR 1999 STUDENT

PEACE AWARD
To: "Conference reg.burma" <burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx>
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             WRITE IN SUPPORT OF MIN KO NAING'S NOMINATION 
                    FOR STUDENT PEACE PRIZE IN NORWAY


Dear Friends,

We are writing to ask you to support the nomination by a
Norwegian friend of Burma of Min Ko Naing for the Student Peace
Award for 1999.  This is a new prize which is to be awarded for
the first time next year.  The prize will be awarded to
outstanding student activists around the world every two years.
The Prize Committee will announce the winner on January 15, 1999.
If Min Ko Naing were to win this award it would be a prestigious
honor for not only for him but also for our movement, both inside
and outside Burma. We ask you to write to the Prize Committee in
support of the nomination. The ABSDF has sent a letter of support
to the Committee. A sample of the letter is attached below and we
appreciate your participation in this campaign by emailing or
faxing the Committee.

Many thanks,

ABSDF
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The Chairman
Student Peace Prize Committee
International Student Festival
Postterminalen NTNU
7034 Trondheim 
Norway
Tel: -47-7359 5320
Fax: -47-7359 5323
Email: prize@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Date: 22 December 1998


              ABSDF SUPPORT FOR NOMINATION OF MIN KO NAING 
                      FOR 1999 STUDENT PEACE AWARD


Dear Sir/Madam,

We are writing in support of the nomination of Min Ko Naing for
the 1999 Student Peace Award.  Min Ko Naing has been imprisoned
since March 1989, shortly after the Burmese military junta staged
a massive crackdown on pro-democracy supporters. As the Chairman
of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, Min Ko Naing was a
prime target of the authorities, and he is considered to be
second only to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in his importance to the
democracy movement within Burma.

Min Ko Naing was charged under section 5(j) of the 1950 Emergency
Provisions Act for having delivered anti-government speeches and
agitating unrest. He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. Min
Ko Naing's decade in prison has been spent in solitary
confinement. 

He is allowed visits from his family only a few times a year. 
Aside from his family, he has been allowed only two visitors in
nearly ten years.  Yozo Yokota, the former UN special Rapporteur
for Burma, and United States Congressman Bill Richardson were
able to visit him, both in 1994.

Min Ko Naing was born in October 1962 in Rangoon.  After passing
his matriculation exams in 1984-85, he studied at the Botataung
Regional College in Rangoon, where he majored in Zoology. He
spent two years at Botataung College before continuing on at the
Rangoon Arts and Science University. 

He was an active organizer in the demonstrations during the 1988
pro-democracy uprising, and became an inspirational figure for
his fellow students and the people of Burma generally.  His
speeches, public pledges and poems caught the spirit of the
people, and made him a leading light in the opposition to
military rule.

While other political prisoners have received amnesties, are
allowed to stay in group cells and receive regular family visits,
Min Ko Naing has been kept isolated and been given no reduction
in his sentence.  Reports of his torture by the authorities are
numerous.  Although international human rights organizations,
including Amnesty International, consider him a prisoner of
conscience, his conditions in prison have not improved.

We believe that Min Ko Naing's active pursuit of democracy by
peaceful means makes him an ideal candidate for the inaugural
awarding of this prestigious prize.  After 10 years of suffering,
the people of Burma still consider that Min Ko Naing represents
more than just the All Burma Federation of Student Unions.  He
represents the hopes of the people that their struggle will not
be in vain.

Next year will see the launch of an international "Free Min Ko
Naing" campaign. Min Ko Naing's nomination for this prestigious
prize can only raise the profile of this campaign, and may assist
to galvanize the support of the international community.  We feel
confident that this nomination will have the support of many
people and organizations throughout the world, who understand the
importance of his contribution to Burma's struggle.

Yours sincerely,

ABSDF