Sundayis Aung San Suu Kyi’s 66th birthday. Suu Kyi, a pro-democracy leaderin Burma, has spent 15 years under house arrest as a political prisoner. Shewas finally released late last year, and has since called for the release ofall political prisoners.
"Until political prisoners havebeen released, and until we are all allowed to take part in the politicalprocess in the country, I do not think we can call it real change," SuuKyi has said.
Thereare currently 1,992 political prisoners in Burma, including more than 140 womenand 200 monks. Some are servingsentences of 100 years or more. A few weeks ago in response to a visit by a UNofficial, 77 prisoners with less than a year left on their sentences were releasedwhen the government granted “amnesty” and reduced all prison sentences by oneyear.
Hungerstrikes are occurring in prisons throughout Burma as political prisonersprotest conditions in the prisons, the government’s “amnesty” releases, andlack of access to healthcare. Although most of the political prisoners in Burma weresentenced by the previous administration and the administration has changed,the political prisoners remain in jail.
Inhonor of the birthday of Burma’s most famous political prisoner, PHR calls forthe release of all of the country’s political prisoners.