Myanmar’s junta government freed hundreds of political prisoners from the infamous Insein prison, minutes after military ruler Min Aung Hlaing’s speech on Monday.
During the speech, Min Aung Hlaing defended his military government, saying that it was seeking to restore peace and order in spite of the continued violence enacted by the junta’s opponents, which he told the international community to take note of.
State television announced that more than 5,600 people who were arrested or wanted over their roles in pro-democracy protests would be freed in an amnesty on humanitarian grounds to mark the Thadingyut festival later in October, without providing more details on when others would be freed.
According to a statement released by the junta on Monday, more than 1,300 of those due to be released would be let go on the pre-condition that they sign agreements pledging not to re-offend the military government.
Photos and videos posted on social media showed a line of buses exiting the jail’s rear entrance. Passengers leaned out from windows and waved to crowds gathered outside. Other images showed detainees reunited with weeping family members.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a local monitoring group, more than 1,100 civilians have been killed while more than 8,000 have been arrested since the onset of the bloody February 1 coup.
This is not the first time the junta has freed its political prisoners. In June, authorities released over 2,000 detainees from prisons across the country, including journalists critical of the military government.
Some activists are of the opinion that the mass release is a ploy by the ruling military to try to salvage its reputation in the face of international pressure.
United Nations Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews welcomed the news but said it was “outrageous” that they were detained in the first place.
“The junta is releasing political prisoners in Myanmar not because of a change of heart, but because of pressure,” he said.
Andrews was referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) taking the unprecedented step of excluding the junta chief from its upcoming summit.
After the foreign ministers of ASEAN failed to achieve consensus on a political representative during an emergency meeting on Friday, they decided to invite a non-political representative from the country.
The meeting also decided that the bloc’s special envoy to ASEAN, Erywan Yusof, would not visit the country this month, after Myanmar authorities barred him from meeting with certain individuals, including deposed democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Brunei, the group’s current chair, said in a statement that the decisions were made due to the junta’s “insufficient progress” in abiding by the peace roadmap set forth for it. As of now, the group has decided to “give space to Myanmar to restore its internal affairs and return to normalcy.”