Arrested demonstrators in Myanmar freed

Nine demonstrators detained recently for a rare protest against Myanmar's m

ilitary government were released Tuesday without charge, the protesters and their relatives said.

The nine had been brought in for questioning by police after taking part in a demonstration of about 25 people in Yangon last Thursday urging the country's military rulers to improve health care, education and economic conditions.

They said were released after signing an acknowledgment of police orders that they should not hold any future public demonstrations without first obtaining official permission.

"The authorities wanted to know who sponsored the demonstrations and who provided financial assistance to us," Tun Tun, one of the released protesters, told The Associated Press.

He said he told authorities no foreign country or organization sponsored the demonstration, and that he had copied the idea from the group that staged rallies last month outside the U.S. and British embassies.

He was referring to protests by about 30 supporters of the junta denouncing an attempt to pass a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding faster democratic reforms in Myanmar.

Rights activists accuse Myanmar of tolerating widespread abuses including summary executions, torture, forced labor, sexual violence and recruitment of child soldiers. The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Myanmar, also known as Burma, and has urged the ruling junta to free political prisoners including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has long been under house arrest.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The current junta was installed in 1988 after authorities put down mass pro-democracy demonstrations. A general election were held in 1990, but the military refused to hand over power after Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory.

The government tolerates little dissent.

Tun Tun, 45, said he was not physically tortured but he was put under mental pressure during interrogation after he was arrested on Friday at his home in Nyaungdone, 40 miles northwest of Yangon. He runs a small photo lab, and said he is not a member of Nobel laureate Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party or any other group.

Another freed detainee, May Win, 53, said she was asked whether the intention of the protesters was to incite a mass riot.

"I told the police that we have no intention to incite unrest but were honestly expressing concern over the hardship and rising consumer prices that we, housewives, are currently facing," she said.

By targeting economic issues, the demonstration sought the sympathy of many Yangon residents, who are under a financial strain as incomes fail to keep pace with inflation in what is already one of Asia's poorest countries.

Previous public demonstrations in Yangon have usually targeted the legitimacy of the military government and have been associated with Suu Kyi's party or other political activists.