PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE AND POLITICAL PRISONERS Individuals in Myanmar who have been deprived of their liberty on politically-motivated grounds are often described as either “prisoners of conscience” or “political prisoners”. Although often used interchangeably, these terms have different meanings, which it is important to differentiate at the outset of this report. Amnesty International considers as a prisoner of conscience any person imprisoned or otherwise physically restricted solely because of his/her political, religious or other conscientiously held beliefs, ethnic origin, sex, colour, language, national or social origin, economic status, birth, sexual orientation or other status, or for exercising his or her right to freedom of expression or other human rights, and who has not used violence or advocated violence or hatred. All prisoners of conscience must be set free at once and without conditions, and all charges or other proceedings against them abandoned. Amnesty International uses the term prisoner of conscience in the context of its work on Myanmar, as well as its work worldwide. There is no agreed definition of a political prisoner in international human rights law or standards. However, it is generally used as a descriptive term to apply to a person who has been detained or imprisoned on politically motivated grounds. Unlike prisoners of conscience, political prisoners may have used or advocated violence or hatred, or in some cases they may have committed some minor offence, which is a pretext for a politically-motivated imprisonment. In Myanmar, civil society groups and others often use the term political prisoner and have been campaigning for the government to recognize the term. 4 In this report the term political prisoner is used to indicate a detainee or prisoner whose case has a significant political element, which can include the motivation of the prisoner’s acts, the acts in themselves or the motivation of the authorities in imprisoning them. However this application does not mean that Amnesty International has recognised the person as a prisoner of conscience who should be immediately and unconditionally released. RECOMMENDATIONS Since President Thein Sein came to power in March 2011, Myanmar has experienced rapid transformation. Yet while there have been a number of key reforms increasing the space for freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly, many of these do not go far enough and are seriously undermined by the ongoing arrests and imprisonment of human rights defenders and other activists simply for exercising their rights. The National League for Democracy (NLD) led government will take power at the end of March 2016. This offers an important opportunity to end the cycle of arbitrary arrests and imprisonment and ensure that the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly are respected and upheld in the country. To this end the incoming government should take immediate and concrete steps to:  Immediately and unconditionally release all those detained simply for the peaceful exercise of their human rights, and drop charges pending against those who are facing imprisonment simply for the peaceful exercise of these rights. Expunge the criminal records of all those convicted simply for the peaceful exercise of their rights. Review the cases of all detainees and prisoners not falling into the above category, who have been subjected to politically motivated prosecutions and/or unfair trials, and determine whether the individual should be released or given a prompt and fair retrial which complies with international fair trial standards; Despite efforts to define the term in Myanmar, there is no consensus. See for example AAPP & FPPS Press Release about the Definition of a Political Prisoner, 2 September 2014, available at: http://aappb.org/2014/09/aapp-fpps-press-release-about-the-definition-of-a-politicalprisoner/, accessed 15 February 2016. 4 NEW EXPRESSION MEETS OLD REPRESSION ENDING THE CYCLE OF POLITICAL ARRESTS AND IMPRISONMENT IN MYANMAR Amnesty International 8