Source: mysinchew

January 3, 2012: Yangon- Activists and Myanmar's opposition expressed frustration on Tuesday after an order to cut jail terms for all inmates appeared to fall far short of hopes for an amnesty for political detainees.

Prisoner releases were set to begin Tuesday after the army-backed government announced a general reduction to sentences, but failed to mention the plight of top dissidents.

Nyan Win, spokesman for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, said it was not yet clear whether any of the party's imprisoned members would be released as a result of the move.

"We were hoping for a real amnesty," he said.

Myanmar's political prisoners include former student protesters, monks, journalists and lawyers and their fate is a key concern of the international community.

Under the order, death sentences will be commuted to life imprisonment, jail terms above 30 years will be reduced to 30 years, those between 20 and 30 years will be cut to 20 years and shorter sentences will be cut by a quarter.

Most high-profile dissidents, like those from a failed 1988 student uprising, are serving decades behind bars so would have little hope of immediate release as a result of the announcement, which was made to honour Independence Day on Wednesday.

Aung Khaing Min, of the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), expressed disappointment that the order had not differentiated between political and criminal inmates.

"It is not even an amnesty, it is very frustrating," he told AFP.

He said it was "really chaotic" that the announcement was not in line with statements from some officials, who have indicated recently that more prisoners of conscience would be freed.

Myanmar's new nominally civilian government, which in March replaced a long-ruling military junta, has shown signs that it is willing to reform in recent months by reaching out to the opposition and the West.

About 200 political detainees were freed in October, but activists estimate there are still between 500 and more than 1,500 prisoners of conscience in Myanmar's jails and many key dissidents remain locked up.

These include Gambira, a monk jailed for 63 years for his role in the 2007 cleric-led protests known as the "Saffron Revolution", and former student leader Min Ko Naing, who is serving a 65-year prison sentence.