The Burmese military have today continued with the slow staged release of political prisoners in a process designed to gain maximum positive publicity while at the same time making no fundamental changes or reforms whatsoever.
The release of any political prisoner is wonderful for the prisoners themselves and their family and friends, but should not be mistaken, as the Burmese military intend it to be, as a sign of political reforms in Burma.
“If the Burmese military regime were genuine about reform, they could release all 14,000 political prisoners today,” said Minn Tent Bo, Advocacy and Communications Officer at Burma Campaign UK. “These people should not have been arrested in the first place. The Burmese military could stop arresting activists and could repeal all repressive laws. They haven’t done that.”
Having released thousands of less well-known political prisoners last month, this time the Burmese military appear to be using a small number of high-profile political prisoners in their public relations offensive. High profile political prisoners such as President Win Myint have been released, as has journalist Shin Daewe.
The Burmese military are also playing the Aung San Suu Kyi card, with reports that they are reducing her sentence. This is a smart tactical move by the Burmese military whereby they are likely to receive a positive international response to this, whilst at the same time keeping her illegally detained.
Until the 2021 coup, the Burmese military had been master manipulators of the international community, and the tactical release of political prisoners always played a central role in that. Unfortunately, it was often a successful tactic, with the international community usually misinterpreting the releases as a sign of reform or change.
“The way in which the Burmese military are dragging out the staged releases of political prisoners to maximise public relations benefit tells us this is not a genuine process of change,” said Minn Tent Bo. “While today we celebrate the release of some political prisoners, it’s also a continuation of a nightmare we have been living for generations. The revolving door of political prisoners in and out of jail never stops spinning.”
On Tuesday 21st April activists in Burma and worldwide will take part in Blue Shirt Day. People wear blue and post a picture on social media, raising awareness of Burma’s political prisoners and calling for their release.
