Student activists remain in jail despite amnesty – Unions

No student activists have been released, student unions said, while tens of thousands of students and academics remain behind bars in Myanmar despite the pardoning and release of over 5,000 prisoners by the military government last week as part of a mass amnesty.

A total of 5,774 prisoners have been pardoned under the Code of Criminal Procedure Article 402 (1). The military announced in the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper that the State Administration Council chairman had granted the pardons as part of National Victory Day commemorations on 17 November, as well as on humanitarian grounds.

Some high-profile political prisoners and four foreigners, including an Australian economist and Macquarie University academic Sean Turnell, an economic adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi, were released from prisons across the country last week. Turnell, detained in Yangon days after the February 2021 coup, was deported to Australia on his release.

However, a statement by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) on 18 November said while the releases were an attempt to show political goodwill, tens of thousands of political prisoners including President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD), remained behind bars.

According to AAPP data, more than a thousand students have been detained since the February 2021 coup and actual numbers are likely to be much higher.

Lack of transparency

Win Lwin Oo, deputy executive chairman of Thanlyin Technological University Students’ Union, told University World News that student unions could confirm that none of the detained student activists were released and tens of thousands of student activists and academics still remain behind bars.

A spokesperson for AAPP told University World News that at least 400 political prisoners had their cases under the Penal Code Section 505-a – which criminalises comments that “cause fear” or “spread false news” – withdrawn by the military.

He added it was difficult for AAPP to collect all the names of those freed as the military announced only a few names via state media, refusing to be transparent about the numbers of political prisoners.

AAPP has only been able to document and confirm the release of 161 political prisoners following the announcement and said it will provide updates accordingly.

“The international community is definitely monitoring the situation in Myanmar. They know that it’s not enough just to release some. The international community certainly knows that it is very important for an unconditional release of all the political prisoners, including President U Win Myint and Aung San Suu Kyi. What is more important is to stop unjust arrests and brutal killings,” the spokesperson said.

At the time of the amnesty, a total of 12,923 people were in detention, 1,601 of them serving sentences, including those released last week. A total of 2,525, including pro-democracy activists and other civilians, have been killed since the coup.

A ‘ruse’ to soften junta’s image

According to student leader Sithu Maung, the junta’s amnesty was a desperate attempt to demonstrate compliance with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 2021 ‘Five Points Consensus’.

Myanmar is a member of ASEAN but has been barred from recent high-level meetings and summits. The consensus includes immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar, constructive dialogue among all parties to seek a peaceful solution, and dialogue mediated by ASEAN representatives.

Sithu Maung, who led the re-founding of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions in 2007 and became the youngest member of the lower house of parliament in November 2020 from the Pabedan Township constituency for the NLD and was a member of the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) which was formed after the coup, told University World News that the release of only some political prisoners was “just one of the junta’s games” to “trick” civilians and the world regarding the upcoming elections next year.

“It is nothing more than a ruse to make themselves [the military council] look softer in the eyes of the public,” he said. “I see it as an attempt by them to reduce international pressure,” Sithu Maung said.

The military seized power in February 2021 amid accusations of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 general election held under the Aung San Suu Kyi-led NLD government.

As Myanmar’s constitution allows the military’s state of emergency to be extended for up to two years, coup leader Min Aung Hlaing promised “a free and fair election” when the state of emergency is due to end on 1 August 2023.

High-profile political prisoner Mya Aye, one of the leaders of the 1988 generation pro-democracy student activists, was among the 5,774 pardoned in the mass amnesty.

Mya Aye was arrested after the military seized power in February 2021 and charged under Section 505c of the Penal Code for “inciting hate towards an ethnicity or a community”, which carries up to two years’ imprisonment. After a year in prison facing trial, he was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment on his 56th birthday on 10 March this year.

AAPP Secretary U Tate Naing said in an 18 November statement that most of the released political prisoners had been sentenced under baseless accusations and random charges, after being detained for no apparent reason in the first place.

“Others had almost served their prison sentences already. The whole charade is … an attempt to alleviate domestic and international pressure on the junta, so that it can continue to commit inhumane crimes daily against the people,” Naing said.

Continued protests by students

Min Han Htet, a spokesperson at the Alliance of Students’ Unions Yangon and president of the Dagon University students’ union, told University World News that although most student union leaders remain in prison, the students and unions outside continued to protest across Myanmar.

“Currently, most of the student activists are in prisons. They endure torture and brutality in prison. The lives of those outside are also in danger, even if they’re not in the jungle or in battle, but those who are protesting against the military have to deal with the fact that bullets or speeding cars can come at them at any time.”

One of the methods used by military forces is the mowing down of protesters using vehicles. On at least 20 occasions since the coup, according to figures confirmed by student unions, peaceful protesters have been rammed by military vehicles.

A young activist was injured after a car rammed into a group of protesters on 7 July, the 60th anniversary of the 1962 Rangoon University protests. On that day the regime also blew up the historic Rangoon University Students’ Union building, which had been the symbol of the anti-colonial nationalism struggle since the 1920s.

At least five people were killed and several injured after a car occupied by military soldiers rammed into anti-coup protesters on 5 December last year in Yangon. Similar incidents occurred in April and May this year in Yangon. Some were injured and some were beaten and arrested, according to student unions.

On 18 October 2021 in Mandalay, 20 people were injured after security forces rammed a car into a group of anti-coup protesters.

Despite the violence, students have not stopped protesting nationwide “because they have nothing to lose except their bonds”, said Win Lwin Oo, referring to family and other ties.

Win Lwin Oo said homes of many protesters have already been burnt down by the military regime which has been razing villages since the coup, according to figures in August from the independent organisation Data for Myanmar.

According to a Data for Myanmar report, military and affiliated groups burned down approximately 18,886 civilian houses at 435 locations between 1 February 2021 and 31 May 2022 in an attempt to crush resistance after the coup.