IN A sign that the slow process of reform in Burma is picking up pace, an official body has called for so-called “prisoners of conscience” to be freed.
Observers believe the release of such prisoners could happen within days.
Western governments have made the release of political detainees a condition before any moves are made to lift sanctions against the military junta over its appalling human-rights record.
There are believed to be about 2,100 such detainees in Burma.
The release would come as part of a broader amnesty for 6,359 prisoners which will take place today. The amnesty was announced on state television and other media, but it was not clear if political prisoners would be among them. General amnesties are fairly common in Burma.
In an open letter published yesterday, Win Mra, chairman of Myanmar National Human Rights Commission, wrote that prisoners who did not pose “a threat to the stability of state and public tranquillity” should be released.
“The Myanmar National Human Rights Commission humbly requests the president, as a reflection of his magnanimity, to grant amnesty to those prisoners and release them from the prison,” the letter ended.
The commission was formed last month by Burmese president Thein Sein. The move came amid signs of change in Burma since the army handed over power in March following elections last November.
The polls were widely dismissed as a sham at the time but since then there have been signs of increasing openness in the southeast Asian nation. These include the release last year of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi after 15 years of house arrest.
She has made several trips out of Rangoon since her release, although her party’s decision not to contest the election has left it slightly isolated.
The government has signalled that it is prepared to compromise with Ms Suu Kyi because she had long advocated sanctions against Burma as a way of forcing concessions on human rights and democracy.
Shortly after she was released, Ms Suu Kyi said she might recommend that the embargoes be lifted. Her role after years under house arrest could be as a mediator between Burma’s military junta and the West, exchanging reforms for easing of restrictions.
There have also been indications of greater openness in the way the central government deals with ethnic minority guerrilla groups at the borders.
Last week, the government suspended a controversial €2.6 billion Chinese-led dam project, which was read as a victory for supporters of Ms Suu Kyi and a sign the country was willing to yield to popular resentment over China’s growing influence.
Some suggest the sanctions mainly hurt the Burmese people and that Burma’s neighbours, including China, India and Thailand, are taking advantage of the sanctions to tap into the country’s vast resources.
There has been speculation that the prisoners could be freed on the Thadingyut full moon today, a highly auspicious occasion in the mainly Buddhist country.