US rebukes Myanmar over jailing of NLD activists ( AFP ) September 7, 2002


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US rebukes Myanmar over jailing of NLD activists

WASHINGTON, Sept 6 (AFP)

The United States rebuked Myanmar on Friday after two members of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) were jailed for three years for dissident activity.

The State Department said the arrests of the two men "appear inconsistent with the regime's stated commitment to political reform," dealing a new blow to Myanmar's recent efforts to improve its appalling relations with Washington.

"We urge the regime to release all those detained for the peaceful expression of their political views," the department said in remarks to AFP."We expect these cases to be handled according to international norms of due process."

The two activists -- Aung Thein and Kyaw Naing Oo, both members of the NLD youth wing -- were arrested on August 22 and tried successively on August 23 and 26, NLD officials in Yangon said.They were found guilty under a 1950 emergency provision act and sentenced Thursday, even as seven other NLD members were released from jail in a gesture designed to mark a European Union delegation visit to Yangon this weekend.

Myanmar's ruling junta also announced Thursday that 39 female prisoners and another prisoner jailed "for connection with unlawful organisations" had been freed from jail.Hundreds of political prisoners have been released since the beginning of 2001 in goodwill gestures linked with fledgling talks between the junta and the opposition, but 1,500 are believed to still be incarcerated.

Aung San Suu Kyi has said her party's top priority is to secure the release of all the political prisoners and suggested last month that a mass release would be a precondition to a long-awaited political dialogue with the regime.

The arrests come amid rumors here in the dissident community that initial contacts between the junta and Aung San Suu Kyi prodded by UN envoy Razali Ismail have cooled.The State Department had no comment on that issue, but stressed that it hoped a substantive dialogue could begin soon.

Myanmar, which is treated as a pariah state by Washington and some of its Western allies has recently made attempts to improve its standing in the US capital, hiring a lobbying firm and making major policy announcements here rather than in Yangon.

In a statement issued here in July, the junta claimed it was victim of a vicious "smear" campaign designed to frustrate its goal of improving poisoned relations with the United States.

The tirade followed allegations that Myanmar troops had systematically raped women and girls in Shan state."These allegations are completely false, and we refuse to be deterred by those who would stand in our way of seeking cooperation with the United States on drug eradication, terrorism and promotion of human rights," said the statement.

The United States has warned junta that a bevy of sanctions and investment restrictions will be lifted only when substantial progress is made towards democratic reform.Washington is a staunch supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi, who's NLD won an overwhelming election victory in 1990 never recognised by the government.It also accuses Yangon of doing too little to crack down on the trade in illegal narcotics.

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