Pu Cin Sian Thang leh Mualtungmi
Makaipi te kimuhkhopna, CRPP phuhna, Feb. 12, 1998.
Pu Cin Sian Thang leh U.S Ambassador,
Tg. Vung Za Pau te tawh
Chin Sian Thang is
chairman of the
Zomi National Congress,a political party in
Burma.
Elected as a member of
Parliament during
Burma’s
ill-fated 1990 elections, he has worked diligently for many years in
defiance of the country’s ruling junta. During the 1960s, Chin Sian
Thang served as a leader of the Chin Ethnic Student Union while a
student at
Rangoon University. He is a pro-democracy activist and a strong
opponent of
Burma Socialist Program Party and
Ne Win
dictatorship. He has been imprisoned on at least six occasions by
successive military regimes for his political activities between 1972
and 1999. In each instance, he served two years, during which he was
subjected to brutal interrogations that led to permanent health
problems.
He also serves as a member of the
Committee Representing People’s Parliament, a group supported by 251
candidates elected in 1990. Considered a moderate ethnic leader, Chin
Sian Thang heavily promotes the CRPP as a rallying point for Burmese
activists and ethnic leaders.He is the most outspoken elected ethnic
leader in Burma. He is a graduate of
Rangoon University in Law degrees (B.A., B.A.(Law)., L.L.B). He is
the coauthor of "In Burma, a Cry for U.N. Help" (Washington Post
- Thursday, October 26, 2006; Page A25).
Source : Wikipedia
--------------------------------------------
The History of the Detention of
Pu Chin Sian Thang
due to his struggle forDemocracy and Human Rights
Compiled under the permission of Pu
Chin Sian Thang, by
Zomi National Congress (New Generation)
April 2003.
Pu Chin Sian Thang, a graduate
from Rangoon University in Law degrees (B.A., B.A.(Law)., L.L.B),
started his political movement since he was in his student life. He
attended the historic Taung-gyi Conference (so called second Panglong
Conference) as a leader of student union. He is a pro-democracy activist
and a strong opponent of Burma Socialist Program Party and Ne Win
dictatorship. The detention by brutal dictator began in his life as
early as one party system was introduced in Burma.
1.
October 30, 1972 to March 3, 1974 : Ye-Kyi-Aing Military Intelligence
Detention Camp, Yangon.
March 4, 1974 to August 24,
1994 : transferred to Mandalay Jail, Mandalay.
When the draft of Ne Win
constitution was revealed to the public to solicit their opinion, Pu
Chin Sian Thang submitted his Federal Suggestions that resulted him of
his first detention.
2.
March
12, 1992 to March 19, 192 : Kalemyo & Yangon.
Being an elected member of
parliament, a prominent ethnic leader and the president of Zomi National
Congress, Pu Chin Sian Thang had been under tight surveillance by
military intelligence since the general election. While he was living in
fear at his home in Kalemyo, the time was up for him to become a victim
of the brutality of military intelligence at 4:00am early in the morning
on March 12, 1994. He was brought down to Yangon and interrogated
inhumanely. He was then released from detention without any charge at
Yangon on March 19, 1992.
3.
May
10, 1993 to June 1, 1993 : Kalemyo.
When the military government
was trying to abolish the political parties, Pu Chin Sian Thang was put
under house arrest. He was forced to report his presence and remain
silence from political movement to the officer concerned of Military
Intelligence 17th battalion in Kalemyo, once at 8:00am and
once at 5:00pm every day. And he was not only barred from practicing his
law career but also doing business for the living. The economic and
financial hardship in his daily life had begun since then.
4.
October 10, 1996 to October 24, 1996 : Kalemyo.
Due to his continuous struggle
for Democracy and Human Rights, again he was detained by Military
Intelligence 17th battalion on October 10, 1996 in Kalemyo
where he underwent many kinds of ill-treatment. His health became
deteriorated due to the torture.
5.
September 6, 1998 to March 14, 1999 : Yangon.
After the formation of the
Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP) by the leaders of
NLD, SNLD, MNDF, ADL and Zomi National Congress party, Pu Chin Sian
Thang was detained on September 6, 1998 at the army 220th
battalion, Yemon. He was then transferred to the 9˝-mile Military
Intelligence quarter where he was isolated from the public and outside
world. He was not allowed to listen radio, nor read news paper. His
family had no single chance to meet him and even to know his where
about. Due to the immoral treatment and living condition, he got kidney
trouble and further health deterioration. He had to be then released to
undergo medical treatment at Sakura Clinic in Yangon.
6.
November 3, 1999 to June 15, 2001 : Yangon.
A meeting took place on
October 16, 1999 at UNDP office, between the ethnic leaders including Pu
Chin Sian Thang and Mr. Alvaro De Soto, the Assistant Secretary-General
of the UN was the reason why Pu Chin Sian Thang was interrogated and
detained again on November 3, 1999. He was detained again in the 9˝-mile
Military Intelligence quarter (so called guest house by the military
government) where he was isolated to prevent him from continuing the
movement for Democracy and Human Rights. Though the military government
claimed that he was kept for discussion, no one had approached him and
asked his political opinion. As usual he was not allowed to listen
radio, nor read news paper. He was not treated as a political leader,
and he was rather treated as a prisoner. The pressure from UN
Secretary-General’s special envoy to the military government helped him
to meet his family once a month, and finally he had to be released on
June 15, 2001.
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