Myanmar Frees Political Prisoners

October 12, 2011 from Euronews

Myanmar (Burma) started releasing political prisoners on Wednesday as part of an amnesty announced by the government. Reports say between 150 and 300 'prisoners of conscience' have been freed. There are conflicting reports as to whether dissident Buddhist monk Shin Gambira is also among those to go free from jail.

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Myanmar

Burma, a historic name for the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, also known simply by another historic name, Myanmar, is a sovereign state in Southeast Asia bordered by China, Thailand, India, Laos and Bangladesh. One-third of Burma's total perimeter of 1,930 kilometres forms ... Explore this topic

Prisoner of conscience

Prisoner of conscience is a term coined by Peter Benenson in a 28 May 1961 article for the London Observer newspaper. Most often associated with the human rights organisation Amnesty International, Benenson's article was instrumental in its foundation, the term can refer to an... Explore this topic

Political prisoner

According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’. The term is used by persons or groups challenging the legitimacy of the detention of a p... Explore this topic

Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi MP AC is a Burmese opposition politician and chairperson of the National League for Democracy in Burma. In the 1990 general election, the NLD won 59% of the national votes and 81% of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained under house ... Explore this topic

Thein Sein

Thein Sein is a Burmese politician and former military commander who has been President of Burma since March 2011. He was the Prime Minister from 2007 until 2011 and considered by some as a moderate and reformist in the post-junta government. His new government undertook a ser... Explore this topic

Bhikkhu

A Bhikkhu or Bhikṣu is an ordained male Buddhist monastic. A female monastic is called a Bhikkhuni Nepali: भिक्षुणी. The life of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis is governed by a set of rules called the patimokkha within the vinaya's framework of monastic discipline. Their lifestyle is... Explore this topic

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic and volcanic a... Explore this topic

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian. These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal right... Explore this topic

Euronews

Euronews is a European, multilingual news television channel, headquartered in Lyon-Écully, France. Created in 1993, it claims to be covering world news from a Pan-European perspective. Explore this topic

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Myanmar

Prisoner of conscience

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