The Myanmar government's attacks on the freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association compromises the country's first elections in 20 years, Amnesty International said on Friday. The Myanmar authorities have introduced several new laws and directives in the run up to the 7 November elections, restricting free speech and criticism of the government, prohibiting political parties from boycotting the elections, and cracking down on internal calls for the release of the estimated 2,200 political prisoners in the country. “These elections presented an opportunity for Myanmar to make meaningful human rights changes on its own terms—and with the world watching,” said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International's Secretary General. “Instead, throughout the run up to the polls, the government has attacked the rights necessary for holding meaningful elections.” Since March this year, when the government enacted restrictive and repressive Electoral Laws, it has routinely violated the freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association. Recent violations include: * On 14 September, the Election Commission issued a notice outlining strict restrictions on campaign speeches to be broadcast on state media, including vaguely worded provisions that effectively ban criticism of the government or any mention of the country's problems, particularly ethnic issues. * On 18 September, the government warned Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party—winners of the 1990 elections—of penalties for encouraging an election boycott. * On 27 September, authorities sentenced Ashin Okkanta, an ethnic Mon monk, to 15 years' imprisonment for possessing leaflets calling for the release all political prisoners in Myanmar. * In the final two weeks of September, the authorities arrested 11 students, at least nine of whom remain in detention, in Yangon for handing out leaflets urging people not to vote. “That Myanmar continues to hold more than 2,200 political prisoners exposes the government's contempt for human rights in these elections,” said Salil Shetty. “Their self-described ‘Roadmap to Democracy', of which these elections are meant to be a significant part, seems to lead only to continuing political repression.” The Myanmar government maintains that it is not holding any political prisoners, despite the highly critical report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar released on 15 September 2010. Amnesty
