By Paul Eckert, Asia Correspondent
Wednesday September 16, 2009
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. policy review on Myanmar will seek new ways to free political prisoners, a senior State Department official said on Wednesday as a rights group reported the country had since 2007 doubled the number of people jailed for political reasons.
A review of policy toward the former Burma to be concluded "very soon" would not alter the U.S. goals of improving human rights, winning freedom for political prisoners and seeking transition to a democratic government, said Scot Marciel, the Obama administration's top diplomat for Southeast Asia.
"There's no question about the ultimate goal, including the very high and great emphasis we place on the release of political prisoners and a more inclusive political process," he said at the launch of a Human Rights Watch report on political prisoners.
"The purpose of the review is to look very honestly, candidly and say: 'We haven't been able to achieve this goal. Are there things we can do differently, more of, less of, that might increase the chances of us achieving that goal?'" added Marciel.
Marciel, the U.S. Ambassador for ASEAN Affairs, did not spell out what new policies Washington might try. But experts on the country and one prominent U.S. lawmaker have called for direct talks with the reclusive military leadership.
Washington has long sought to press the military junta that has ruled Myanmar since 1962 to free Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. She is under house arrest and has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention of one form or another.
The U.S. advocacy group Human Rights Watch said in a report issued on Wednesday that the military government has more than doubled the number of political prisoners, to 2,250, since it quashed since pro-democracy protests in 2007.
Dozens of political and labor activists, Buddhist monks, journalists, and artists have been jailed for their involvement in the 2007 demonstrations, and for assisting civilians after Cyclone Nargis in 2008, said the report.
"Despite recent conciliatory visits by U.N. and foreign officials, the military government is actually increasing the number of critics it is throwing into its squalid prisons," Tom Malinowski, Washington advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
Malinowski said a mixture of dialogue with the junta and pressure on them through sanctions and public criticism was necessary to free the jailed activists.
Former political prisoner U Pyinya Zawta, head of the All-Burma Monks' Alliance that led the 2007 protests, echoed Malinowski and urged Washington to finish the review quickly.
"The U.S. government should engage, but the most important thing is to keep the current sanctions in place unless the Burmese government moves forward, releases political prisoners and makes significant change," he said at the Human Rights Watch event.
In May, President Barack Obama extended a ban on U.S. investment in Myanmar imposed in 1997 because of the authorities' political repression. He has also renewed long-standing sanctions on imports.
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