Activists Demand Release Democracy

[RANGOONP@xxxxxxx]

Activists demand release of foreigners nabbed in Yangon

 .c Kyodo News Service    

BANGKOK, Aug. 10 (Kyodo) - Human rights groups in Thailand demanded Monday
that the Myanmar government immediately release -- with a safety guarantee --
18 foreign activists detained in Yangon. 

The groups, mainly Bangkok-based nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), also
called for members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to
urge fellow member Myanmar to release the foreign activists -- six Americans,
one Australian, three Thais, three Malaysians, three Indonesians, and two
Filipinos. 

The groups comprised the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-
Asia), Amnesty International Thailand, the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma
(Myanmar) or Altsean, and the Federation of Students in Thailand. 

''We are extremely concerned about their safety, as we don't know where they
are being held. We don't know how long they are going to be kept,'' said
Debbie Stothard, a member of Altsean. 

Stothard expressed concern for the health of the activists detained Sunday,
whom she said were aged between 18 and 51. ''We have no idea if they are being
given medical treatment,'' she said. 

The 18 foreigners were carrying goodwill messages to Myanmar people to
commemorate the 10th anniversary of a political uprising in the country and
the 50th anniversary of the U.N. declaration on human rights, the NGO
representatives told a press conference. 

The detainees had distributed red leaflets in Yangon written in Burmese and
English saying, ''We are your friends from around the world. We have not
forgotten you. We support your hopes for human rights and democracy. 8888 --
Don't Forget -- Don't Give Up.'' 

The leaflets referred to Aug. 8, 1988, the start of an uprising of pro-
democracy activists calling for an end to military rule. 

''The message carries no antigovernment wording...They conducted no illegal
assembly in Burma. They were doing nothing wrong,'' Kamol Kamoltrakul of
Forum-Asia said. 

The detainees were accused of attempting to incite public unrest, according to
a military intelligence statement released Sunday night. 

Meanwhile, Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Kobsak Chutikul told a daily press
briefing, ''Thailand has no policy to encourage Thai nationals to conduct
political activities in other countries.'' 

''However, if they were arrested, we call upon the Myanmar government to
provide transparent treatment during the legal process to be made against
those Thai nationals. It should also be in compliance with the international
standard of human rights,'' Kobsak said. 

During the press briefing, Kobsak received a telephone call from Myanmar's
Deputy Foreign Minister Nyunt Shwe assuring him of cooperation for the safety
of the detained Thais. 

''They did not intend to incite any unrest or cause any trouble,'' Kobsak told
the deputy minister over the phone in front of reporters. 

The human rights groups submitted to Kobsak a letter addressed to Thai Foreign
Minister Surin Pitsuwan requesting the government to urge Myanmar to release
the activists unconditionally. 

They also addressed an open letter to Senior Gen. Than Shwe, chairman of
Myanmar's ruling State Peace and Development Council and submitted to the
Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok ''to guarantee their safe return today.'' 

The open letter was read out in front of the embassy where some 50 dissident
students of Myanmar have been demonstrating since Aug. 3. 

The letter was not accepted by embassy officials. 

The demonstrators told reporters that they planned to protest until Aug. 21,
when Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has called for the military
government to allow elected members of parliament to convene.