The freeing of 41 political detainees in Myanmar is part of fulfilling a pledge by the country’s President Thein Sein to release prisoners of conscience by the end of the year. The move is commendable and is one of many taken by the civilian leadership since taking over power in 2011.
But this is only part of a reform in progress. Hundreds of people were detained during the military’s final years in power. There are still about 40 political detainees in prison and more than 200 people still face charges over their political activities.
While the process of studying the cases is lengthy and time-consuming, the government must now speed up its decision-making so that innocent victims of the previous regime do not pay the penalty for speaking out against rights abuses. Also, such amnesties need not always be linked to diplomatic events as in this case. Political prisoners need to be freed at the earliest, not when the leader travels for an international visit.
