Burmese President pardons 56 political prisoners
Yangon ( AsiaNews / Agencies) - The president of Burma has pardoned 56 political prisoners. The decision was announced yesterday and , according to experts, is a sign of relaxation and further reforms in view of the ASEAN regional summit . The government led by Thein Sein is also preparing to engage in important negotiations with the Kachin ethnic group - northern Myanmar , on the border with China - the scene of a two year bloody war that has caused dozens of casualties among civilians as well . The head of state has ordered their release - starting yesterday and will continue in the coming days - on the eve of an important meeting in Brunei, with the participation of the main leaders of South -East Asia and the Pacific region countries. On this occasion, the Burmese government is called to respond to important unresolved problems, including sectarian violence in the western state of Rakhine against the Rohingya Muslim minority .
Several times in the past, the
release of political prisoners or prisoners of conscience coincided with
important events on the international stage . A
mode used by the government in Naypyidaw to emphasize the authenticity of the
path of reform and democratization of the state that began in 2011 with the end
of a decade of military dictatorship.
Under
the regime, in Burmese prisons were filled with hundreds of political
prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who now sits in
Parliament. Ye
Aung , a member of the Audit Committee on political prisoners , reports that
among those released , there are also several members of ethnic minorities such
as the Kachin . And
just yesterday a new round of meetings kicked off between emissaries of the
government and officials of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA ) , the armed
wing of the political movement Kachin Independence Organization ( Kio ) .
In November 2010 the first elections in two decades marked the first, faint change in the wake of greater democratization of Myanmar. Following the vote, the junta also ordered the release of Aung San Suu Kyi because the terms of her house arrest had expired. In the following months there was the transition from military rule to the appointment of a civilian government, elected by a Parliament in which the military still remains the absolute master (25% of seats are reserved for army officials and almost all of the remaining 75% are in the hands of the party of the military).
The elections of April 2012 marked the entry of the leader of the opposition into the Assembly , together with 42 other members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) , meanwhile the executive, on the recommendation of the Head of State, granted pardons or amnesty to hundreds of political prisoners , a choice that prompted the United States and European Union to remove most of the economic and trade sanctions on Myanmar , in existence for decades . President Thein Sein announced the release " of all political prisoners" by the end of the year.
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17/11/2022 11:50
