Fw: Urgent Action by Amnesty

[TIN KYI <tinkyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message -----
From: " $B9lLZ!!MN;R (B" <FZE01330@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <FZE01330@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2000 8:56 PM
Subject: Urgent Action by Amnesty


> Dear all,
>
> I am sending you Urgent Action sheet ussued by Amnesty International in
London
> .
>
> If you want Japanese translation, please let me know.
>
> Hiroko Todoroki
> Burma Coordinator
> Amnesty International Japanese Section
>
> ------------------------------------------
> PUBLIC    AI Index: ASA 16/17/00
>
> UA 263/OO      Fear of torture/prisoners of conscience
> 5 September 2000
>
> MYANMAR
> U Soe Myint - National League for Democracy (NLD) Central
>                Executive Committee member, NLD Yangon division Chairman
>
> Dr Myo Aung - NLD Yangon Division organizing committee
>                                    member
>
> NLD Youth members:
>  Htun Zaw Zaw, Myo Nyunt, Htun Myint, Thein Lwin, Aung Htoo, Khin Oo, Moe
Thaw
>
> (alias Pauk Pauk), Myint Kyaw, Shwe Gyo, Than Htut, Nyan Lin Aung, Aye
Myein
> Lin, Than Htun, Thein Swe, Zaw Min Kyaw, Min Aung Nyo
>
>  Daw Aung San Suu Kyi - NLD Secretary General
>  U Tin U - NLD Vice Chairman
>
>
> Two leaders of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) have
> reportedly been imprisoned, together with 16 members of the party's Youth
> wing, after they tried to attend a party meeting. If these reports are
> confirmed, Amnesty International would consider them prisoners of
> conscience, arrested solely for exercising their right to freedom of
> association and for their membership of a non-violent political party.
> Political prisoners are routinely tortured in Myanmar.
>
> They were among a group of NLD members, led by the party's General
> Secretary, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and vice-chairman, U Tin U, stopped by
> security forces on 24 August as they left the capital, Yangon, for a
> meeting 30 miles away. They refused to turn back, and stayed at the
> roadside in the Yangon suburb of Dallah for nine days. Some 200 riot
police
> eventually removed the group by force, at about 1.30am on 2 September.
>
> Since then, NLD Central Executive Committee member U Soe Myint, who is
> chairman of the party's Yangon division, has reportedly been held in
Insein
> Prison in Yangon, together with a member of the party's organising
> committee, Dr Myo Aung, and the 16 NLD Youth members named above.
>
> Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Tin U have been held incommunicado since 2
> September. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's home has been cordoned off by security
> forces, and the telephone lines have been cut. The NLD headquarters are
> also blocked off, and Military Intelligence officers are reported to have
> taken files and documents from the offices on the weekend of 2/3
September.
> On 4 September the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)
issued
> a statement claiming that all 10 of the NLD Executive Committee, including
> Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Tin U, "have been requested to stay at their
> respective residences," although they have denied that the 10 are under
> house arrest. The SPDC also alleged that the NLD has links with armed
> opposition groups, but Amnesty International believes there is no evidence
> for this.  The NLD has always advocated non-violence.
>
> BACKGROUND INFORMATION
> Political prisoners in Myanmar are often tortured during interrogation by
> Military Intelligence after they are arrested. After sentencing they can
> also be tortured if they break arbitrary and harsh prison rules. Prison
> conditions are extremely poor. Political prisoners are denied adequate
> food, medical care, and sanitation, and dozens have died through lack of
> proper care.
> The NLD won over 80% of the parliamentary seats in the May 1990 elections,
> but has not been allowed to form a government. Since then the military
SPDC
> has launched a series of crackdowns, arresting hundreds of NLD members and
> other activists for their peaceful political activities. Amnesty
> International estimates there are 1500 political prisoners in Myanmar. The
> government has also forced thousands of NLD members to resign from the
> party, and has closed down offices around the country.
>
> RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/telexes/faxes/express/airmail
> letters in English or your own language:
> - urging the SPDC to release immediately and unconditionally U Soe Myint,
> Dr Myo Aung and the 16 NLD Youth members arrested on 2 September, unless
> they are charged with a recognizably criminal offense;
> - urging the SPDC to ensure that all 18 are allowed immediate access to
> lawyers, their families and medical treatment;
> - urging the SPDC to ensure that no prisoners are subjected to torture or
> other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment;
> - urging the authorities to clarify the current situation of Daw Aung San
> Suu Kyi, U Tin U and other NLD Central Executive Committee members whose
> movements have been restricted, and to ensure that they are not held in
> incommunicado detention.
>
> APPEALS TO:
>
> Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, Secretary 1
> State Peace and Development Council
> c/o Director of Defense Services Intelligence (DDSI)
> Ministry of Defense, Signal Pagoda Road
> Dagon Post Office
> Yangon
> Union of Myanmar
> Telegrams:     General Khin Nyunt, Yangon, Myanmar
> Telexes:  21316
> Faxes:    + 95 1 292 977 $B!! (Bor + 95 1 289 274
> Salutation:    Your Excellency
>
> Colonel Hla Min
> Office of Strategic Studies
> Department of International Affairs
> c/o Ministry of Defense, Signal Pagoda Road
> Dagon Post Office
> Yangon
> Union of Myanmar
> Telegrams:     General Khin Nyunt, Yangon, Myanmar
> Telexes:  21316
> Faxes:    + 95 1 292 977 $B!! (Bor + 95 1 289 274
>
> Salutation:    Dear Colonel
>
> COPIES TO: diplomatic representatives of Myanmar accredited to your
> country.
>
> PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat,
> or your section office, if sending appeals after 17 October 2000.
>