Statement on 2020 Presidential Pardon

Date: Friday 17 th 2020
AAPP welcomes the release of prisoners in today’s presidential pardon, but remains concerned
by the lack of political prisoners included in the release .
At the moment, only 18 political prisoners have been included in the presidential pardon. 58
political prisoners remain behind bars. They must be freed immediately and unconditionally
and we call on the government to do so.
Today’s release of 24,896 political prisoners is a positive step forward, it is the largest prisoner
pardon in 10 years. The released prisoners will now have the opportunity to be reunited with
their family. This will be beneficial for their, and their family members, mental and physical
health, during this pandemic period. However the prison population in Burma remains high and
prisons are still operating well over capacity. Prisons and prison staff are still overstretched and
food and medical supplies are inadequate for the high prison population. Therefore we urge the
government to release more prisoners as soon as possible. This will also be helpful to reduce
the harmful effects of COVID-19 in prisons.
We have a request for Burmese society. It can be difficult to return to society after being
incarcerated for many years. It will be especially challenging for released prisoners this year
with the COVID-19 quarantine period and the economic challenges they will face as a result of
COVID 19. Please treat all released prisoners with the empathy and sympathy they deserve.
We also request all released prisoners to follow local government instructions for dealing with
COVID 19, and self quarantine, if requested to do so.
In Solidarity.
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)

Download link for 2020 pardon

Download link for released list 17 April 2020 Pardon released list

Download link for remaining PP list 58 Remaining PP list (Updated 17 Apr, 2020) by year