13 pro-democracy activists arrested in Myanmar

Myanmar’s military regime arrested at least 13 activists, including leaders of a pro-democracy group that staged a rare protest against massive fuel-price hikes, and could face up to 20 years in prison, the official media said Wednesday.

The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper said “agitators” of the 88 Generation Students group were detained Tuesday night for attempting to undermine the “stability and security of the nation.”

Members of the 88 Generation Students were at the forefront of the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and were subjected to lengthy prison terms and torture after the rebellion was brutally suppressed by the military.

A Washington-based activist group, the U.S. Campaign for Burma, said in a release that five university students and three members of another activist group were also arrested in separate sweeps by the authorities. The official media did not mention these arrests.

The detentions came two days after the group led more than 400 people in a protest march through Yangon against the doubling of fuel prices on Aug. 15.

Those arrested included Min Ko Naing, one of Myanmar’s most prominent activists, Ko Ko Gyi, Pone Cho, Min Zeya, Zaw Zaw Min and Nyan Lin Tun, the newspaper said.

Min Ko Naing, whose name means “Conqueror of Kings,” spent 16 years in prison despite international calls for his release and numerous awards for his nonviolent calls for democracy in Myanmar.

“Their agitation to cause civil unrest was aimed at undermining peace and security of the State and disrupting the ongoing National Convention,” the newspaper said, noting this amounted to violating a 1996 law which mandates prison terms of up to 20 years.

The National Convention is drafting a constitution as a milestone in a so-called seven-step roadmap to restoration of democracy in Myanmar, also called Burma. Critics call the process a sham.

Myanmar has been widely criticized for its human rights violations including the 11-year house arrest of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The country has been under military control since 1962 which has crushed several attempts to topple its supremacy.

The 1988 uprising was preceded by public protests over rising rice prices, a sudden demonetization and other economic hardships.

Three members of the Myanmar Development Committee, which had called for a nationwide protest against the sudden hikes, were also arrested along with five university students who were putting up posters demanding the reduction of prices on fuel and basic commodities, the Washington group said.

Rumors had circulated in Yangon that a nationwide protest against the hikes would be staged Wednesday.

The Myanmar Development Committee vowed to the stage the protests despite the arrests.

A key leader of the group Htin Kyaw has been in hiding but a member of his group was arrested last night and released two hours later.

Security in Yangon and Mandalay, the country’s second largest city, has been tightened since Monday.

Tension was also reported among teachers and students at schools and universities, traditional centers of protest, with some parents saying they would not send their children to school on Wednesday in light of the rumors.

“Student leaders have tried to reflect the hardship people are facing because of the fuel price hike. The arrest was a temporary solution. The government must tackle the root cause of the problems,” said Myint Thein, a spokesman for Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy Wednesday.

The crackdown comes just weeks before the special U.N. envoy for Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, was due to visit the country to report on conditions.

The arrests drew immediate fire from human rights groups.

“The regime has been trying to persuade the international community that it has a roadmap to democracy and will reform, but this exposes the raw truth, the regime will tolerate no dissent, not even peaceful protest,” said the London-based Burma Campaign UK.

“The United Nations must set a deadline for genuine reform, including the release of all political prisoners. We have had 19 years of regime lies and 19 years of the international community dithering while thousands of Burmese people are arrested, tortured and killed,” it said.