Yul Kwon:
On April 1, Burma will be holding by-elections for 48 assembly seats. But the leader of the main opposition party and Nobel Peace Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, has expressed concerns that the by-elections will not be fair and open, and she's asked that outsiders monitor the by-elections closely. It's the first time that her party, the National League for Democracy, has campaigned since 1990, when the Burmese military refused to recognize the party's victory and unleashed a wave of repression. These scenes are from a new documentary called "Into the Current: Burma's Political Prisoners." Thousands of Burmese were arrested and sentenced to imprisonment for opposing the military. The first wave of arrests occurred after Suu Kyi's supporters protested the overturning of the 1990 elections. One of the protestors was a man named Bo Kyi.

Bo Kyi:
I led a demonstration calling for the release of all student detainees who are in prison. Military officer asked one question: Did I commit a crime? I replied, 'Absolutely no.' Then he replied, 'Three years imprisonment with hard labor.' That's all. Finish the trial.

Yul Kwon:
Bo Kyi received a relatively lenient sentence. Others were sentenced to 20, 30, even 50 years of imprisonment, and some died while still in prison. After his release, Bo Kyi escaped to Thailand, where he co-founded an NGO called the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Bo Kyi has since won an award from the Human Rights Watch for his work on helping political prisoners.

Bo Kyi:
I was arrested when I was eating with my family. I was handcuffed, hooded and taken away in the car. I was ordered to lie down so that no one could see me. When I removed my hood, I saw I was in a tiny cell. When I looked on the wall, I saw blood from the prisoners who came before me. People had carved their names on the wall. Some of those names were the names of my friends. I asked myself, 'Where are they now? Are they in prison? Are they being tortured? Are they dead?' I decided to speak for my colleagues who still remain in prison.

Yul Kwon:
He's now visiting the US to organize support for the up to 800 Burmese prisoners who weren't released during last January's amnesty. Bo Kyi, welcome to LinkAsia. How long have some of these political prisoners been held in jail for?

Bo Kyi:
Some of them were imprisoned for more than 20 years. Some of them are in prison for more than 10 years. Some of them are in prison for 5 years, or 3 years, or 2 years.

Yul Kwon:
How frequently are the prisoners being released?

Bo Kyi:
According to the Burmese regime's attitudes. Sometimes they made an amnesty. Amnesty is so-called amnesty. Sometimes they reduce one year. Sometimes they release people who completed. Sometimes they release some people, some political prisoner who did not complete their imprisonment. So it is really difficult to predict, or it is really difficult to say what time they will release or what time they will not be released.

Yul Kwon:
For the ones who have been released, are they still subjected to harassment by the regime?

Bo Kyi:
Yes, that's true, because they are not regarded as political prisoners. It's mean. After they were released, they have to suffer the consequences. For example, lawyers who are released from prison, after they were released, they did not get back their license. It's mean. They cannot continue their professional or civilian things. So it is really, really cruel by the regime. Another thing is students who want to continue their education, they cannot continue back. They cannot continue their education back. It's mean. Students cannot continue their education. Not only they received torture in prison, but also, after they were released, they did not receive back their status quo.

Yul Kwon:
What do the continued detentions and harassment of those who've been let go tell you about the regime's promises of reform?

Bo Kyi:
They seem cautiously optimistic. But in the meanwhile, they cannot [take it for granted] for themselves, or they feel insecure for themselves for the time being. But in the meanwhile, they are trying to advocate for the more reform.

Yul Kwon:
And what's your take on the upcoming April 1 by-elections?

Bo Kyi:
By-elections is not much important for the opposition, and democracy, and human rights. Because in 2010 election, current, latest Burmese regime have already taken all the position and all the seats in the Parliament. Now it's like 48 seats; that is very minority. So therefore, we cannot expect much from the by-election. Another thing is now we don't see. We do not see freedom for election for upcoming by-election, because what we got information that when they count the voter list, they included those who died or they included those who did not come the full age for the voting. So that's the way we got information that it mean, so we did not see the freedom for election for upcoming by-election.

Yul Kwon:
Thanks so much for joining us. Bo Kyi is a former political prisoner from Burma who is campaigning in the US to raise awareness on other political prisoners who are still held in Burma.