ARRESTS CONTINUE IN BURMA

C O N F I D E N T I A L RANGOON 001018 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/MLS, DRL, AND IO PACOM FOR FPA E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM BM SUBJECT: ARRESTS CONTINUE IN BURMA REF: RANGOON 1014 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: P/E Chief Leslie Hayden for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) ¶1. (C) Reports of ongoing arrests, torture, and deaths in custody continue to circulate although they are growing more difficult to confirm as more activists go into hiding and become increasingly nervous about meeting Embassy employees. The authorities have reportedly begun arresting relatives of fugitives when they do not find them at their residences, including the mothers of wanted activists. We are working to confirm reports of hundreds of monks being detained and tortured in Myitkyina, Kachin State. Post confirmed today that American Center English language student Aye Myint Myint was arrested Wednesday night. Exile magazine Irrawaddy reported another American Center student, Ye Myant Hein, was arrested Wednesday also, but we have no record of any students with this name. ¶2. (SBU) The government continues to hold mass rallies in support of the National Convention. One of these rallies is scheduled to take place in Rangoon on October 13 at Thuwana Stadium. Armed soldiers have already been deployed along the street leading to the stadium and residents of some of Rangoon's poorest neighborhoods are reportedly being paid 10,000 kyat ($8.00) to attend the rally. ¶3. (C) Regarding travel restrictions on diplomatic missions, we have discreetly surveyed other missions and UN agencies to find out if their diplomats had been told they were not allowed to travel outside of Rangoon, as we were yesterday (reftel). None of the UN offices or missions we checked with had been notified of any such restriction. The Korean and Japanese Embassies confirmed that they had received permission from the GOB for their consuls to travel to Shan State in mid-October. The UN reported that no movement restrictions were being posed on their international staff based in Mandalay, Sittwe, and other areas. Most embassies and UN agencies seek permission before traveling, and have not requested permission recently. Tourist travel by diplomats does not appear to be restricted. Several diplomats from western embassies, including our own, have been allowed to travel to tourist areas in the last week. The GOB often enforces restrictions arbitrarily and may have done so in the instance of our diplomatic note. We never request permission, but simply inform the Foreign Ministry of our plans. We plan to proceed with our travel to Mandalay as planned. VILLAROSA