On 7 October 2014, Burma’s government released Rohingya human rights defender Kyaw Hla Aung from Sittwe Prison in Arakan State as part of a presidential amnesty. Kyaw Hla Aung had been detained since 15 July 2013, when authorities in Sittwe Township arrested him in connection with a protest by internally displaced Rohingya against attempts by the government to register them as ‘Bengali’ in April 2013. On 26 September 2014, the Sittwe District Court sentenced Kyaw Hla Aung to one year and six months in prison on charges of rioting in connection with the April 2013 protest.
FIDH actively worked and advocated for Kyaw Hla Aung’s release through its Observatory and its profiles of Burma’s prominent political prisoners.
Despite the release of a handful of political prisoners in the 7 October amnesty, about 80 dissidents remain behind bars in Burma.