July 2012 Khun Kawrio Released!

We had hardly got going with our campaigning for our new Burmese prisoner of conscience, Khun Kawrio, when we received the news that he had been released.

He sent this message to his supporters:

"Thank you all so much, I will keep working for democracy and human rights development in Burma and in the Kayan region. I hope to meet you all personally some time; I want to send best regard to you all."

 

He had been sentenced  in 2008, together with fellow activists Khun Bedu and Khun Dee De, to 37 years for peacefully calling on people to vote no in the Burmese constitutional referendum. Khun Bedu and Khun Dee De were released in January of this year.

We will hopefully receive a new prisoner to campaign for in due course. In the meantime, we are asked to continue to campaign on the wider issues of prisoners of conscience and political prisoners in Burma. Suggested points to include in letters are:

• Release all prisoners of conscience immediately and unconditionally.
• In the meantime, feed them well and give them the medical treatment they need in prison. Allow visits from relatives and friends.
• Ensure that individuals identified as political prisoners are either released or promptly charged with an internationally recognized criminal offence and tried in proceedings that fully comply with international fair trial standards.
• Sign meaningful peace treaties with all ethnic minorities. Cease Fires are not enough.
• Reform the Myanmar legal system up to international standards of law.