Thousands of prisoners to be freed

YANGON (AP):

Myanmar is releasing more than 14,600 prisoners under a clemency programme that includes just a few political prisoners, one of them a hip-hop singer.

Prison Department Director General Zaw Win said most of the convicts, including 2,166 women, would be freed yesterday from jails around the country.

Myanmar has been under the sway of the army since 1962, and critics say its recent transition to a civilian government is a charade that perpetuates military rule. Authorities have long clamped down on dissent, and the United Nation and human-rights groups estimate there are more than 2,000 political detainees countrywide.

criticism

The limited nature of the programme, which commutes death sentences to life imprisonment and cuts one year from other convicts' prison terms, has drawn criticism from many who had expected more generous terms, similar to broader amnesties that have been announced in the past.

New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a statement calling the clemency "a pathetic response to international calls for the immediate release of all political prisoners."

The US State Department and Amnesty International both called for the immediate release of all political prisoners, as they have before.