Burma Begins Clemency; Activists Say Not Enough

Posted January 3rd, 2012 at 5:40 pm (UTC-5)
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Burma on Tuesday began releasing prisoners as part of a government-ordered clemency program.

Family members of inmates gathered with journalists Tuesday outside the notorious Insein prison in Rangoon, waiting for the release of relatives.

Rights activists say not enough political prisoners are being freed under the deal signed by President Thein Sein Monday to coincide with the 64th anniversary of Burma's independence.

Most political prisoners and dissidents are serving long sentences and will remain in prison.

The United States says the international community wants to see the release of all political prisoners in Burma. A spokeswoman for the State Department, Victoria Nuland, told reporters Tuesday that the release of the more than 1,000 political prisoners still incarcerated in Burma is a vital step without which normalization of U.S.-Burmese relations will be difficult.

Under Burma's clemency program, some death sentences will be commuted to life imprisonment. Prison terms above 30 years will be reduced to 30 years, and those between 20 and 30 years will be cut to 20 years. Shorter sentences will be cut by a quarter.

Many activists and relatives of prisoners had hoped for amnesty instead of sentence reductions.

Activists also worry the clemency will not affect Burma's high-profile dissidents, many of whom are associated with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

A Thai-based human rights group told VOA in November that it knew of more than 1,600 political prisoners who were still languishing in Burmese prisons. Those figures were announced just days after the country's new, nominally civilian government released about 200 detainees.

Burma claims that only some 300 political prisoners remain incarcerated.