Senior General Than Shwe
Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council
Myanmar
Email: myanmar@un.int

10 March 2006

Dear General,

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 102 countries, to call on you to mark the 76th birthday of journalist U Win Tin on 12 March by releasing him from jail.

U Win Tin, former editor-in-chief of Hanthawaddy newspaper and winner of WAN’s 2001 Golden Pen of Freedom, celebrates his 76th birthday on March 12 in Insein Prison, where nearly 100 political activists have reportedly died in recent years. He has been held there for the past 17 years. U Win Tin is in poor health. He has had two heart attacks and a hernia operation and suffers from high blood pressure, diabetes and a prostate gland disorder.

U Win Tin, who was also vice-chair of Myanmar’s Writer’s Association and founder of the National League for Democracy, was arrested in July 1989, tried in a closed military court and sentenced to 14 years of prison for allegedly being a member of the banned Communist Party of Myanmar. This sentence has since been increased to 21 years in jail.

The continued imprisonment of U Win Tin constitutes a deep blemish on the international standing of Myanmar which can only be erased by his release. Furthermore, his detention constitutes a clear breach of his right to freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by numerous international conventions and we remind you that the United Nations Commission on Human Rights considers that “detention, as punishment for the peaceful expression of an opinion, is one of the most reprehensible ways to enjoin silence and, as a consequence, a grave violation of human rights.”

We respectfully call on your government to demonstrate strength and compassion by releasing U Win Tin immediately. We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Gavin O’Reilly
President
World Association of Newspapers

George Brock
President
World Editors Forum

cc : Mr Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations
Mr Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General, UNESCO

WAN is the global organization for the newspaper industry, with formal representative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe. The organization groups 18,000 newspapers in 102 countries, 11 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups. WAN is non-governmental and non-profit.