Members of the families of activists detained in recent demonstrations have appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross to help them discover where the detainees are being held after an inconclusive visit to Insein prison on Tuesday.
Win Maung, father of Pyone Cho, one of the arrested 88 Generation Students group activists, said prison authorities had told him and other relatives they didn’t know where the detainees were being held. The authorities had advised them to contact those who had originally arrested the activists.
Win Maung told The Irrawaddy by phone on Wednesday: “We are worried about their health. We heard that some of them are hospitalized. If they are not getting sufficient medication their health will only worsen.”
Win Maung said family members were still waiting for a response from the ICRC to their appeal for help in finding out where the detainees were being held.
The ICRC representative in Rangoon, Thierry Ribaux, deputy head of the organization’s delegation there, declined to comment when contacted by The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.
Last November, Burma’s military regime ordered the ICRC to close its five offices in Mandalay, Moulmein, Pa-an, Taunggyi and Kengtung.
The regime also told the ICRC it could no longer visit prisoners and applied other restrictions on the organization’s work. Until then, the ICRC was the only organization allowed access to political prisoners.
Leading members of the 88 Generation Students group who were arrested in late August for demonstrating against skyrocketing price rises include Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Pyone Cho and Mya Aye.
The US state department also called on Burma on Tuesday to give international humanitarian organizations access to the detained activists.
Win Maung, father of Pyone Cho, one of the arrested 88 Generation Students group activists, said prison authorities had told him and other relatives they didn’t know where the detainees were being held. The authorities had advised them to contact those who had originally arrested the activists.
Win Maung told The Irrawaddy by phone on Wednesday: “We are worried about their health. We heard that some of them are hospitalized. If they are not getting sufficient medication their health will only worsen.”
Win Maung said family members were still waiting for a response from the ICRC to their appeal for help in finding out where the detainees were being held.
The ICRC representative in Rangoon, Thierry Ribaux, deputy head of the organization’s delegation there, declined to comment when contacted by The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.
Last November, Burma’s military regime ordered the ICRC to close its five offices in Mandalay, Moulmein, Pa-an, Taunggyi and Kengtung.
The regime also told the ICRC it could no longer visit prisoners and applied other restrictions on the organization’s work. Until then, the ICRC was the only organization allowed access to political prisoners.
Leading members of the 88 Generation Students group who were arrested in late August for demonstrating against skyrocketing price rises include Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Pyone Cho and Mya Aye.
The US state department also called on Burma on Tuesday to give international humanitarian organizations access to the detained activists.
