"...The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), AAPP has been verifying the political prisoner database in attempts to publicly account for each individual who has been unjustly detained and arrested for exercising their fundamental freedoms. AAPP can now verify there are at least 1,572 individuals in Burma who have been arrested and sentenced on political grounds and are believed to currently be in prison. There is an ongoing secondary verification process to confirm their current whereabouts, for example, whether they are in prison or have been released. The verification process is currently underway, and this does not mean there are only 918 political prisoners in Burma. AAPP maintains that the number of political prisoners is likely much higher, given the lack of access and reliable information in remote ethnic areas, monasteries, and during periods of mass arrests, compounded by the absolute lack of prison transparency in Burma. The number of verified political prisoners will continue to increase as the verification process continues, and AAPP will make sure to provide the public with consistent updates as to progress made..."