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SPDC/SLORC IN THE DESPERATE HOURS (r)



30-JUL-99;1:00pm

Latest development on SPDC/SLORC taking hostage of the family
members of a perceived non-violent opposition activist is
throwing some light on how the NLD members and supporters have
been facing the junta's harrassment and intimidation everyday.
The fact that the 3 years old girl was indeed detained with the
intent to pressure his father to come out of the hiding shows
the military junta's cruelty and profoundly inhuman behaviour.
Over the times, this kind of Burmese military's inhuman conduct,
previously to its treatment of the late Michael Aris, have
exposed repeatedly to the civilised world.  On the one hand,
this does shows that the SPDC/SLORC military junta is in a
desperate hours to hold things inside the country.

I think this kind of hostage taking exercise by the junta is
against the Geneva Conventions and organisations such as 
ICRC should make effort to look into this matter.

With best regards, U Ne Oo.

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BURMA-AMNESTY ASIA: AMNESTY WELCOMES RELEASE OF THREE-YEAR-OLD
DATE: 01:35 30-Jul-99
ASIA: Amnesty welcomes release of three-year-old BURMA AMNESTY
(CARRIED EARLIER)

LONDON, July 29 DPA - Amnesty International Thursday welcomed
the release a three-year old child it claimed the military
authorities in Burma had been holding with 18 other people since
last week.

In a statement issued in London, the human rights group
welcomed the release of the child, Thaint Wunna Khin, "but
regrets that  its mother, Ma Khin Khin Leh, and 17 other
prisoners of conscience remain in detention".

The ruling military government in the capital of Yangon again
denied the arrest of the three-year-old.

Amnesty termed the alleged child prisoner "the world's youngest
prisoner of conscience".

"It is encouraging that the Burmese authorities have realised
that detaining a three-year-old is as meaningless as it is
cruel,"  Amnesty International said.

"We hope that the authorities will reach the same conclusion
regarding the child's mother and the 17 others still behind

bars, and  release them all immediately and unconditionally."

Seven of the 18 remaining detainees are relatives of the child,
according to Amnesty.

Amnesty claims the regime arrested the child to force its
father, Kyaw Wunna, out of hiding.

"The government categorically rejects the allegation that a
three- year-old child has been detained to force the father out
of  hiding," the junta said in a statement.

It admitted, however, that people had been called in for
questioning after pamphlets belonging to the All Burma Students
Democractic Front (ABSDF), a dissident student group based along
the Thai-Burma border, had been discovered in Kyaw  Wunna's
house.

Amnesty firmly denied the Burma government's claim that it had
based its research on information from ABSDF, which Burma  calls
"an armed terrorist group".

"As a matter of policy, Amnesty International does not use
information from such groups. The organisation remains committed
to  protecting its sources by never naming them, but can confirm
that all its information about this case was provided by sources
with  close links inside Burma," the statement said.

The Burma government also denied that pamphlets had been
distributed in the town of Pegu calling for a peaceful
demonstration  to commemorate the assassination of the
independence hero General Aung San.

Amnesty International said it had obtained the names of 32
places in Pegu where such leaflets had been distributed. The
leaflets  called for a peaceful demonstration and tripartite
dialogue between the SPDC (the State Peace and Development
Council, Burma's  military government), ethnic minority groups,
and the National League for Democracy, led by Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi.

Thaint Wunna Khin is one of 19 people arrested between 19 and
24 July in Pegu, central Burma, according to Amnesty.

All are thought to be detained in relation to the planning of a
19 July march to commemorate the 52nd anniversary of General
Aung San's assassination.

General Aung San fought for independence from the British and
was the father of Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National
League for Democracy (NLD) opposition party.

DPA
--

HTTP://www.physics.adelaide.edu.au/~uneoo
EMAILS: drunoo@xxxxxxxxxxxx, uneoo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
POSTMAIL: Dr U Ne Oo, 18 Shannon Place, Adelaide SA 5000,
AUSTRALIA
[http://freeburma.org/[http://www.angelfire.com/al/homepageas/index.htm]

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