(AP) – 1 day ago
YANGON, Myanmar — The U.S. Embassy said Tuesday that it has been allowed to visit a Myanmar-born American detained in the country for the past three weeks but refused to divulge details about his health or whereabouts.
Embassy spokesman Drake Weisert said officials were allowed to visit Kyaw Zaw Lwin on Sunday and have since contacted his family. He had a visa to visit the country, but it is unclear why he traveled to Yangon.
Dissident groups have said the Maryland-based Kyaw Zaw Lwin arrived in Yangon on Sept. 3 and has not been heard from since. It is not known why the junta detained him, but many of his family members have been held over the years for their pro-democracy activities.
Kyaw Zaw Lwin's mother is serving a five-year jail term while his sister was sentenced to 65 years in prison for her role in pro-democracy protests two years ago.
The news of Kyaw Zaw Lwin's whereabouts comes just days after the junta announced it was granting early release to 7,114 prisoners for good behavior on humanitarian grounds. The country is believed to hold roughly 65,000 prisoners, including more than 2,200 political detainees, according to estimates by human rights groups.
Only 119 of those released Friday were political prisoners and the amnesty did not include the country's best-known political prisoner, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who is head of the National League for Democracy and remains under house arrest.
The junta has repeatedly denied holding any political prisoners, saying all inmates have been found guilty of criminal offenses.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch said the number of political prisoners has more than doubled in the past two years, and more than 100 dissidents have been jailed in recent months.
Among those imprisoned in the past two years include people involved in peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations in 2007 and some who assisted victims of the cyclone in 2008. The group said some were handed decades-long sentences.
It said the country has 43 known prisons holding political activists and more than 50 labor camps.
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iFhnEcosLlPXwoCLA3eQB43USMDQD9AS80R80
YANGON, Myanmar — The U.S. Embassy said Tuesday that it has been allowed to visit a Myanmar-born American detained in the country for the past three weeks but refused to divulge details about his health or whereabouts.
Embassy spokesman Drake Weisert said officials were allowed to visit Kyaw Zaw Lwin on Sunday and have since contacted his family. He had a visa to visit the country, but it is unclear why he traveled to Yangon.
Dissident groups have said the Maryland-based Kyaw Zaw Lwin arrived in Yangon on Sept. 3 and has not been heard from since. It is not known why the junta detained him, but many of his family members have been held over the years for their pro-democracy activities.
Kyaw Zaw Lwin's mother is serving a five-year jail term while his sister was sentenced to 65 years in prison for her role in pro-democracy protests two years ago.
The news of Kyaw Zaw Lwin's whereabouts comes just days after the junta announced it was granting early release to 7,114 prisoners for good behavior on humanitarian grounds. The country is believed to hold roughly 65,000 prisoners, including more than 2,200 political detainees, according to estimates by human rights groups.
Only 119 of those released Friday were political prisoners and the amnesty did not include the country's best-known political prisoner, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who is head of the National League for Democracy and remains under house arrest.
The junta has repeatedly denied holding any political prisoners, saying all inmates have been found guilty of criminal offenses.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch said the number of political prisoners has more than doubled in the past two years, and more than 100 dissidents have been jailed in recent months.
Among those imprisoned in the past two years include people involved in peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations in 2007 and some who assisted victims of the cyclone in 2008. The group said some were handed decades-long sentences.
It said the country has 43 known prisons holding political activists and more than 50 labor camps.
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iFhnEcosLlPXwoCLA3eQB43USMDQD9AS80R80
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