RANGOON, Burma — Burma on Tuesday announced amnesty for 6,359 prisoners, a group expected to include hundreds of political prisoners whose release would be a dramatic sign of an opening after nearly 50 years of autocratic rule.
The United States and Europe have long demanded the release of political prisoners as a condition for lifting economic sanctions on Burma, also known as Myanmar.
In Washington, officials welcomed the announcement as the latest sign that a major shift may be underway in Burma. But they cautioned that much depends on how many of those released prove to be political prisoners — something that may not be known for weeks.
“We’re obviously looking to see who these folks are and to hope that it is a full, and ideally complete, release of political prisoners,” said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.
The prisoner release and other recent signs of opening are viewed as part of a deliberate Burmese rapprochement with the West, which could serve as a counterweight to the growing and increasingly aggressive power of China, Burma’s longtime close ally.
China was stunned last month when Burmese President Thein Sein halted construction of a mammoth Chinese-financed dam in the north of the country. Thein Sein leaves this week on a trip to India, the world’s largest democracy, which has long competed with China for influence and business deals in Burma.
Another key factor is the possible lifting of Western sanctions that tightly restrict investment, trade and financial transactions in Burma. The Burmese government also seeks increased recognition from other Asian countries, which could lend the current leaders legitimacy by granting Burma the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
State-controlled Burmese media said the releases of inmates would begin Wednesday, a Buddhist religious holiday. The news came on the same day that a newly established human rights commission in Burma issued an open letter to Thein Sein, urging him to free “prisoners of conscience” who do not pose a “threat to the stability of the state and public tranquility.”
The announcement did not name those due to be freed, but both supporters and opponents of the regime, as well as diplomats, said they believe the amnesty will cover many pro-democracy activists and others imprisoned because of their political beliefs.
Others were more cautious. Which prisoners are to be released matters more than how many, said Aung Din, executive director of the Washington-based U.S. Campaign for Burma. In the past, the government has announced mass releases of prisoners as often as twice a year, he noted, including one recent release of more than 10,000 people that included only about 50 political prisoners.
Such prisoners, who are scattered in jails across the country, range from former student leaders — some of whom have been in prison since pro-democracy protests in 1988 — to military intelligence officers jailed after the 2004 purge of Khin Nyunt, a former prime minister and spy chief who had tried to reach out to opposition forces.
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