2. LONG HISTORY OF POLITICAL ARREST AND IMPRISONMENT DARK DAYS UNDER MILITARY GOVERNMENTS “There is essentially no freedom of thought, opinion, expression or association in Myanmar. The absolute power [of military government] is exercised to silence opposition and penalize those holding dissenting views or beliefs…the people live in a climate of fear in which whatever they or their family members may say or do, particularly in the area of politics, involves the risk of arrest and interrogation by the police or military intelligence.” Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, February 1997 8 For almost five decades, since General Ne Win’s 1962 coup d’état, the people of Myanmar lived under a series of oppressive regimes which imposed severe restrictions on basic freedoms. Hundreds of thousands of people, including dissidents and members of Myanmar’s many ethnic groups, fled the country to seek refuge abroad, while those who remained grappled with the country’s poor social, political and economic situation. Many suffered wide-ranging abuses of their rights at the hands of the authorities and others in positions of power.9 Raismoor Lallah, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Situation of human rights in Myanmar: Report of the Special Rapporteur, UN Doc. E/CN.4/1997/64, 6 February 1997, para. 106. 9 See Amnesty International, Crimes against humanity in Eastern Myanmar, (Index; ASA 16/011/2008), 5 June 2008; Leaving home (Index: ASA 16/023/2005), 7 September 2005; The Rohingya minority: Fundamental rights denied (Index: ASA 16/005/2004), 18 May 2004; Ethnic 8 NEW EXPRESSION MEETS OLD REPRESSION ENDING THE CYCLE OF POLITICAL ARRESTS AND IMPRISONMENT IN MYANMAR Amnesty International 11