REGIME RELEASES 32 POLITICAL PRISONERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000916

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV
CINCPAC FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/04/2012
TAGS: PREL PHUM BM NLD
SUBJECT: REGIME RELEASES 32 POLITICAL PRISONERS

REF: RANGOON 613

Classified By: CDA PRISCILLA A. CLAPP FOR REASON 1.5(D).


1. (SBU) Summary: The regime announced yesterday that it
had released 32 political prisoners; 14 NLD members and 18
others, mostly students. The NLD was told of only 24
releases, its 14 members and 10 students the regime said were
arrested for supporting NLD activities. Despite the
discrepancy in reporting, the NLD hopes these releases
presage more significant releases of NLD members and students
in conjunction with the upcoming visit of Special Envoy
Razali and others. End Summary.


2. (SBU) The regime announced the release of 32 political
prisoners yesterday (7/28); 14 NLD members and 18 others.
Following its normal procedure, the regime faxed a brief
statement from its spokesperson to selected &friendly8
embassies (the U.S. is not among them) and local press
representatives. The statement provided just the names of
those released and stated that they had been returned to
their families from various correctional facilities and were
&resting comfortably.8 This was the largest single
release of prisoners by the regime since talks with NLD
General Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi began in December 1999.
None of the 14 NLD prisoners were senior or prominent
officials although two were township level leaders before
their arrests. Most of the non-NLD prisoners were students
who were arrested along with NLD members but were not
registered party members.

NLD notified of only 24 releases.....


3. (C) Visiting NLD headquarters to obtain their views on
the releases, Poloff was told that NLD Secretary U Lwin had
received a call from Military Intelligence (MI) alerting him
only to the release of 14 NLD members and 10 students who
were arrested with NLD members. MI did not mention the other
eight releases which the regime had announced to others. U
Lwin did not have any explanation for the discrepancy.
(Note: The difference in the method the regime notified the
NLD and the press and the differences in the numbers provided
is just one example of how carefully the regime continues to
attempt to control information. Perhaps the regime did not
provide eight of the names to the NLD because the prisoners
were not affiliated with the NLD, although their releases
were certainly a result of NLD efforts. As usual, however,
the regime provided no explanation for its actions. End
Note.)


4. (SBU) This discrepancy in numbers aside, U Lwin was
pleased with the releases, noting that although no
significant NLD leaders were released the number of prisoners
released is much higher than the five to ten prisoners the
regime has been releasing periodically since the talks began.
He said he believes the releases are an effort to
demonstrate political progress prior to upcoming visits to
Burma by UN Special Envoy Razali (8/2),Japanese Foreign
Minister Kawaguchi (8/3),and Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir (8/18).

More releases imminent?


5. (C) This release of 14 NLD members brings the total
number of remaining NLD prisoners down to 261, according to U
Lwin. He said that he is hopeful that the regime will
&clean the slate8 and release the remaining prisoners in
conjunction with Special Envoy Razali,s visit. This is a
necessary and long overdue action which would pave the way
for progress on dialogue, he said.


6. (SBU) U Lwin was also pleased that the regime included
student activists in these releases. He said the NLD has no
estimate of the number of these activists remaining in prison
but there are many. Many of these students, he explained,
were arrested for participating in NLD rallies when they were
quite young and had little understanding of the consequences
of their actions. Some who are still in prison were arrested
as long ago as 1989, according to U Lwin. He and Vice
Chairman U Tin Oo expressed hope that yesterday,s releases
are a harbinger of more student releases in the near future.

7. (SBU) Discussing the total number of remaining political
prisoners, U Lwin said the NLD does not know how many non-NLD
ethnic political prisoners exist in addition to the student
activists. He said the number of Karen, Shan, and other
ethnic political prisoners could be substantial, especially
near the border areas. (Note: This explains in part at
least the continuing inconsistent estimates of political
prisoners by Amnesty International, ICRC, and others. End
Note.)

Clapp