Burma Releases Almost 7,000 Prisoners in Holiday Pardon
Burma Releases Almost 7,000 Prisoners in Holiday Pardon
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Chinese nationals, who were jailed for illegal logging, walk out of Myitkyina prison after being released during an amnesty in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, north of Burma, July 30, 2015Reuters
Almost 7,000 prisoners in Burma were given presidential pardons and released Thursday, in one of the largest amnesties in the military-dominated state in recent years.
The amnesty coincides with the celebration of a national Buddhist holiday and those released included 201 foreigners, Chinese loggers, dissident journalists and military officials associated with the former Junta, the Wall Street Journal reports.
More than 150 Chinese nationals, who had been sentenced to life in jail on charges of illegal logging, were among the 6,966 freed. Their lengthy sentences had strained relations between Burma, officially now known as Myanmar, and Beijing.
New Zealander Phil Blackwood and his two colleagues, who were sentenced to two and a half years in prison for insulting the Buddhist religion, were not part of the amnesty.
Four journalists and the publisher of the weekly journal Bi Mon Te Nay were freed after spending a year behind bars on defamation charges.
However, prisoner watchdog the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) expressed disappointment that only 13 prisoners of conscience were granted freedom.
Though Thein Sein had promised to free all political prisoners by the end of 2014, as part of a much-lauded process of reform after a half-century of brutal military dictatorship, AAPP estimate around 158 remain behind bars.
Former Brigadier General Than Tun and Tin Htut, the son-in-law of the notorious former prime minister and head of military intelligence, Khin Nyunt were also released.
The mass amnesty comes as Burma gears up for a landmark election in November.
The Rohingya, Burma's Forgotten Muslims by James Nachtwey
More than 140,000 minority Rohingya Muslims have been forced to live in camps, where disease and despair have taken root.
Abdul Kadir, 65, who has a severe stomach ailment and malnutrition, is cared for by his wife in one of the camps.James Nachtwey for TIMERelatives weep at the funeral of a woman who died at 35 of a stomach disease; she left five children behind.
James Nachtwey for TIMEA mourner weeps as she sits by an internee's coffin. The Rohingya lack medical care since most NGOs are now barred from the camps.James Nachtwey for TIMETwo men are seen mourning at the funeral of a woman who died from stomach disease.James Nachtwey for TIMEInternees in one camp operate brick kilns to earn money. Adults are paid about $2 a day; children, half that amount.
James Nachtwey for TIMEThek Kay Pyin, 7, is among the Rohingya Muslims interned in Rakhine state,
on the northwest coast of Burma. He is seen here working at a brick kiln where he earns $1 a day.James Nachtwey for TIMEChildren working at a brick kiln where they earn $1 a day.
James Nachtwey for TIMEWorkers at a brick kiln are seen tossing bricks.James Nachtwey for TIMEAt the camp, mourners are seen at a funeral for a 16-year-old girl who drank poison. James Nachtwey for TIMESuffering in the camps continues unabated.James Nachtwey for TIMEChildren learning the Quran at a madrassa in one of the camps.James Nachtwey for TIMEA child suffering from malnutrition in one of the camps is held by its mother.
James Nachtwey for TIMEAt a government-run hospital in Da Paing, a mother watches over her 45-year-old son Abdul Salam, who suffers from diabetes.
James Nachtwey for TIMEA child suffering from stomach worms with her mother at a pharmacy waiting for treatment. The owner of the pharmacy is neither a doctor nor a pharmacist but does his best to help people. International NGOs such as Doctors Without Borders have been expelled from the camp by the government, leading to a soaring crisis in health care.James Nachtwey for TIMEMalnutrition among the camps' children is commonplace. In June a top U.N. aid official who traveled to Rakhine said she had never before “witnessed [such] a level of human suffering.James Nachtwey for TIMEFishermen tend their nets before going out into the Bay of Bengal to fish, one of the main sources of food and livelihood for the Rohingya.
James Nachtwey for TIMEA blind beggar on railway tracks between two IDP camps.James Nachtwey for TIMEA boy using an umbrella as a sun shield jumps across a drainage canal behind a row of latrines at Baw Du Pha camp.
James Nachtwey for TIME