Once again, the military government in Myanmar has made a symbolic gesture to placate international critics. The release of political prisoners is always welcome, but the government in Yangon does not question its right to use the opposition as pawns. The game must stop; nothing less than systemic reform can justify Myanmar's international rehabilitation.
The Myanmar government last weekend announced that it had freed nearly two dozen political prisoners, including 12 members of the opposition National League of Democracy, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi. The government's press statement called the releases "the latest in a series of efforts by the government to move Myanmar to multiparty democracy and national conciliation."
No doubt that is how Myanmar wants the moves to be seen. In fact, little progress has been made since national reconciliation talks with the NLD, brokered by the United Nations, began in 2000. Although hundreds of political prisoners have been freed, some 1,100 to 1,200 others remain in Myanmar's jails. The jail population ebbs and flows depending, apparently, on the government's comfort level. For example, days after the first Amnesty International delegation visited the country earlier this year, another dozen prodemocracy activists were arrested for "antigovernment activities."