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[place], [date]

Subject: Thanda Tun, Ko Maung Nyo, Appeal for Human Rights.

Dear [General][Minister],

As you will be aware, Amnesty International speaks out on behalf of victims of Human Rights violations. We have strong evidence that Thanda Tun and Ko Maung Nyo, members of a humanitarian organization, are such victims. Unfortunately, we do not know for certain their current state of health. We care for them. Can you disclose any information concerning Thanda Tun aka Thandar and Ko Maung Nyo? If anyone can supply reliable information about them, it should be you.

It has been brought to our attention that both have been arrested early September 2009, and have been tortured during their custody and interrogation in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and made Prisoners of Conscience. Article 9 codifies the right not to be arrested randomly, Article 19 grants Freedom of expression and Article 20 Freedom of peaceful assembly. Have these provisions been violated in the case of Thanda Tun and Ko Maung Nyo? Can you confirm that they are presently in Insein prison, under trial? Is it correct that Thandar’s health is deteriorating as we fear and suspect? Can you do anything to help Thanda Tun and Ko Maung Nyo? Can you make sure their basic rights are complied with?

It is essential that compliance with Human Rights provisions is not merely in the interest of the victim of violation. It is in the interest of the violator himself. He is just as degraded. He is a victim himself.

Human Rights are not everything. But without Human Rights everything else is nothing. They are a sine qua non of any societal entity that is to last longer than a few decades. This counts for economic development, cultural achievement and political power. As a military and political thinker you will be aware of the dialectics of power. True political power, enduring power, can never be maintained at the expense of Human Rights. Over and over, world history shows that a power structure built on oppression and violence is a power structure built on sand. It will crush under its own weight, sooner rather than later. Critical voices and free spirits from inside and outside will undermine its foundations. The wind of justice will blow it away. With all due respect, if your regime plans to stay in power after the 2010 it will have to instigate major changes.

Human Rights are not a remnant of Western colonialism, nor are they an instrument of capitalist imperialism. They are a basic human need, they are universal, they are deeply rooted in all world religions and correspond profoundly with human intuition - worldwide. It would be a noteworthy step towards integration into the international community as well as ASEAN regional cooperation if Myanmar's Human Rights' situation were to improve.
Some dialogue and transparency might be first positive signals.

We would appreciate if you could set an example with Thanda Tun and Ko Maung Nyo. They stand pars pro toto for many other democracy activists. Their release would certainly be perceived as a very progressive gesture.

Respectfully yours,
[name, address]

PLEASE SEND APPEALS ASAP:

Senior General Than Shwe
Chairman
State Peace and Development Council
c/o Ministry of Defence,
Naypyitaw, Union of Myanmar
Salutation:Dear General

Minister for Home Affairs
Maung Oo
Ministry of Home Affairs
Office No. 10
Naypyitaw, Union of Myanmar
Fax: +95 67 412 439
Salutation: Dear Minister

Minister of Information
Brigadier-General Kyaw Hsan
Ministry of Information
Bldg. (7), Naypyitaw,
Union of Myanmar
media.moi@mptmail.net.mm
Salutation: Dear Minister

Additionally:
Union of Myanmar, Ministry of Information,
Myanmar Radio & Television (M.R.T.V), Pyay Road,
Yangon. Phone: 951-532814, Fax: 951-525428.

Minister of Foreign Affairs
Nyan Win
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Naypyitaw, Union of Myanmar
Salutation: Dear Minister

And to diplomatic representatives for Myanmar of your own country.