Myint Aye (born 1950) is a Burmese democracy activist. In 2002, he co-founded the Human Rights Defenders and Promoters network in Burma. After several imprisonments on charges related to his activism, on 29 November 2008, he was given a life sentence for allegedly planning a bomb attack in

Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

Shwepyitha Township Shwepyitha Township (; ) is located in the northwestern part of Yangon, Myanmar. The township comprises 27 wards and 3 village tracts, and shares borders with Htantabin Township to the north, Mingaladon Township to the east, the Yangon river to ...

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

described the evidence against him as "fabricated" and designated him a

prisoner of conscience A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...

. He was released from prison on 19 November 2012, as a gesture of goodwill before a visit by US President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

Background

Myint Aye is an alumnus of the University of Foreign Languages, Yangon. While there in 1989, he married Daw La La Win.

Democracy activism

Myint Aye has been arrested at least seven times, in 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2007. In 2002, Myint Aye co-founded the

Human Rights Defenders and Promoters Human Rights Defenders and Promoters was formed in 2002 in Burma to raise awareness among the people of Burma about their human rights and help them conduct advocacy. According to Human Rights Defenders and Promoters (HRDP), on April 18, 2007, se ...

(HRDP) network in Burma. He was also active with the opposition party of

Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...

, the

National League for Democracy The National League for Democracy (, ; Abbreviation, abbr. NLD; Burmese abbr. ဒီချုပ်) is a deregistered liberal democratic political party in Myanmar (formerly Burma). It became the country's ruling party after a landslide victo ...

, serving as its Yangon vice chairman. According to the

Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Assistance is an act of helping behavior. Assistance may also refer to: Types of help * Aid, in international relations, a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another * Assistance dog, a dog trained to aid or assist a person ...

, he was dismissed from the NLD in 2005 "for not following the party principles", but remained active with the HRDP. Myint Aye was arrested in 2006 for calling for the release of leaders of the

88 Generation Students Group The 88 Generation Students () is a Burma, Burmese pro-democracy movement known for their activism against the country's State Peace and Development Council, military junta. Many of its members were imprisoned by the Burmese government on charge ...

, but was released within weeks; he attributes the swift release to international pressure from groups like Amnesty and

Front Line A front line (alternatively front-line or frontline) in military terminology is the position(s) closest to the area of conflict of an Military, armed force's Military personnel, personnel and Military technology, equipment, usually referring to ...

2008 life sentence

Myint Aye was active in bringing aid to

Cyclone Nargis Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Nargis (; , ) was an extremely destructive and deadly tropical cyclone that caused the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Myanmar during early May 2008. The cyclone made landfall in Myanmar on Friday ...

survivors in 2008. He was arrested on 8 August following a search of his home; police reportedly removed him from his father-in-law's home with a black hood over his head. Initially charged with "misappropriating relief funds", Myint Aye was later charged with participating in a bomb attack the previous month in Shwepyitha Township. Activists alleged he was tortured while in detention, and Amnesty stated that his trial "fell far short of international fair trial standards". On 29 November 2008, he was sentenced to "life imprisonment plus eight years", which he is serving in Loikaw prison. Myint Aye's sentence was protested by several international human rights organizations. The member organizations of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange called the sentencings of Myint Aye,

Zarganar Maung Thura "Zarganar" (also called Zaganar, ; also Zargana, ); born 27 January 1961) is a popular Burmese comedian, film actor, and director as well as a fierce critic and often political prisoner of the Burmese military government. Known fo ...

, and others a "historical low point" in Burmese free expression and "a clear message that the junta will not tolerate opposition in the lead-up to their alleged 'democratic' 2010 elections." Front Line stated after his arrest that he appeared to be "targeted as a result of his human rights activities, in particular his work to uphold democracy". Amnesty named him a prisoner of conscience and in August 2012, selected his case to highlight at the annual

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of Arts festival, arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the ...

Release

On 19 November 2012, U Myint Aye was released just ahead of a visit by US President

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

described the move as "clearly timed to show goodwill."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Myint Aye Living people 1950 births Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Myanmar Burmese democracy activists Burmese prisoners and detainees