Banned Books Week
MYANMAR
U Win Tin
editor imprisoned
U Win Tin, 75, imprisoned for the last 16 years on account of his peaceful political opposition, is
Myanmar’s longest serving prisoner of conscience.
U Win Tin was arrested on 4 July 1989 and is serving a 20- year sentence. He was imprisoned because of his senior position as advisor to the National League for Democracy (NLD), and was sentenced to additional years in prison for attempting to inform the United Nations of ongoing human rights violations in prisons in Myanmar. Authorities also accused him of writing a magazine and poems to be circulated in prison, where possession of writing materials was banned by authorities.
Denied basic rights to a fair trial and to humane prison conditions, U Win Tin has been in a poor state of health, exacerbated by his treatment in prison, which has included torture, inadequate access to medical treatment, being held in a cell designed for military dogs, without bedding, and being deprived of food and water for long periods of time.
In the summer of 2005, when U Win Tin should have been eligible for release with time off for good behavior, Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders delivered petitions on his behalf to Myanmar embassies in Paris and London and to Myanmar diplomatic representatives in Hong Kong.
U Win Tin’s imprisonment shows how the justice system in Myanmar has been misused in order to silence peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression. Among the numerous political prisoners in Myanmar, there are many prisoners of conscience who have been penalized for such activities as photocopying leaflets without official permission and possessing literature & political journals produced outside Myanmar.
Politely urging the government of Myanmar not to penalize individuals for their peaceful exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, please call for the immediate and unconditional release of U Win Tin.
Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman
State Peace & Development Council
Ministry of Defense, Signal Pagoda Road
Dagon Post Office, Yangon
Union of Myanmar (Burma)
Fax: 011 95 1 652 624
Salutation: Dear General
Daw Yin Yin Myint
Chargé d’affaires
Embassy of Myanmar (Burma)
2300 S Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Fax: 202-332-9046
Salutation: Dear Madam
Airmail postage abroad: 80¢
