Instead of being persecuted and imprisoned, people like Zarganar, U Gambira, Su Su Nway and Min Ko Naing should be allowed to help their country, said HRW. When visiting Burma, foreign officials should ask not just to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, but with other Burmese political activists in prison to solicit their views and show support for their courageous and important work.
Burma's military government has more than doubled the number of political prisoners in the past two years, including more than a hundred imprisoned in recent months, Human Rights Watch said in a report (2009, September 16 th)
Sentenced to long prison terms for their involvement in peaceful demonstrations in 2007, and for assisting civilians in the wake of the devastating Cyclone Nargis in 2008, the political prisoner population has reached more than 2,200
There are 43 known prisons holding political activists in Burma, while more than 50 labor camps where prisoners are forced to perform hard labor.
Repression increased after the popular uprising led in part by monks in August and September 2007 was crushed by the government. Closed courts and courts inside prisons have held unfair trials and sentenced more than 300 political figures, human rights defenders, labor activists, artists, journalists, comedians, internet bloggers, and Buddhist monks and nuns to lengthy prison terms. Some prison terms have been for more than 100 years. The activists were mainly charged under provisions of Burma's archaic penal code that criminalizes free expression, peaceful demonstration, and forming of independent organizations.
More than 20 prominent activists and journalists, including Burma's most famous comedian, Zargana, were arrested for having spoken out about obstacles to humanitarian relief following Cyclone Nargis, which struck Burma in May 2008.
Human Rights Watch said that it is seriously concerned for the health of many prisoners held in remote facilities with poor medical and sanitation conditions.