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Amnesty calls for release of Myanma



Amnesty calls for release of Myanmar activists
01:22 a.m. Sep 09, 1998 Eastern
BANGKOK, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Amnesty International has called for the
immediate release of 220 members of Myanmar's National League for Democracy
(NLD) reported detained since the weekend.

The NLD, Myanmar's main opposition party, said on Tuesday that the members,
whoincluded 63 representatives who won seats in the country's last general
election eight years ago, had been detained since Sunday.

Also detained was Thakin Khin Nyunt, the 84-year-old chairman of the Rakhine
League for Democracy and one of the leaders of Myanmar's struggle for
independence from Britain, his family said.

``In view of his age, Amnesty International is particularly concerned about
his health while in detention,'' the London-based human rights group said in
a statement received on Wednesday.

``Amnesty International believes that those detained are prisoners of
conscience, arrested solely for exercising their rights of freedom of
assembly, and calls for their immediate and unconditional release.''

The military government has confirmed it has detained an unspecified number
of NLD
members to prevent the party carrying out a vow to call a ``People's
Parliament'' this
month.

The party made the vow after the government ignored its demand to call
parliament in recognition of the result of the 1990 election, which the
party won by a landslide.

 A source in Thakin Khin Nyunt's family contacted in Yangon confirmed he had
been
detained on Sunday.

``He was called in on September 6. The respective authorities informed us
that he was being kept well,'' the source told Reuters.

On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch said in statement from London it was gravely
concerned about the reported detentions and said they marked a ``major new
clampdown.''

It called on Japan, the European Union and members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, whose foreign ministers are due to meet in New York
on September 23 and 24, to condemn the detentions and urge Myanmar to take
steps to allow its citizens to participate freely in politics.

On Tuesday the United States said it was seeking ways to increase pressure
on Myanmar.

``We're looking at this issue with great concern. We're looking at ways to
ratchet up the pressure on the government of Burma (Myanmar),'' State
Department spokesman James Rubin said.

Washington already maintains strict sanctions on Myanmar and has urged other
regional
states to follow suit, although they have been reluctant to do so.

Rubin condemned calls in Myanmar's official media for NLD leader Aung San
Suu Kyi to
be deported, saying any such decision ``would only ratchet up the
international response.''