Thin Thin Aye(Burmese:သင်းသင်းအေး,pronounced[θɪ́ɰ̃θɪ́ɰ̃ʔé];1970 – 13 August 2018), better known asMie Mie(မီးမီး[mímí]), was a Burmese democracy activist who organized and led numerous anti-government protests. She was imprisoned three times between 1988 and 2012, andAmnesty Internationalconsidered her to be aprisoner of conscience.[1]
Mie Mie | |
|---|---|
| Born | Thin Thin Aye 1970 |
| Died | 13 August 2018(aged 47–48) Kyaunggon,Myanmar |
| Nationality | Burmese |
| Alma mater | Dagon University |
| Occupation | democracy activist |
| Organization | 88 Generation Students Group |
| Political party | National League for Democracy |
| Spouse | Hla Moe |
Aye died in a car accident on 13 August 2018, nearKyaunggon,at the age of 47.[2][3][4]
1988 uprising and 1996 arrest
editIn the summer of 1988, a series of protests escalated in Yangon and other cities demanding the resignation of GeneralNe Win,Burma's military ruler.[5]These protests took their name from the date of the largest march, 8-8-88.[5]Aye, a 10th-grade high school student at the time, joined the uprising and became active in theAll Burma Federation of Student Unions.[6][7]On 7 March 1989, she was arrested for the first time for distributing fliers commemorating the one-year anniversary of the death ofPhone Maw,whose killing by security forces helped prompt the previous year's uprising. She was detained for three months, then released.[7]In 1990, she traveled to campaign on behalf of theNational League for Democracy(NLD).[6]
In 1996, Aye was studying atDagon Universityin Yangon when she took part in a protest and was subsequently arrested.[7]She was then imprisoned for seven years inTharyarwaddy Prison.[7]
Saffron Revolution and third arrest
editFollowing her 2003 release, she became involved with the pro-democracy88 Generation Students Group.When rising fuel and commodity prices led towidespread unrest in Yangonin August 2007, the 8888 Generation Students Group played a major role in organizing protests.[8]The largest of these rallies drew over one hundred thousand protesters, most notably a number ofBuddhist monks,giving the uprising the popular nickname "The Saffron Revolution" for the color of their robes.[9]The New York Timesdescribed Aye as "prominent in photographs and videos of the first small demonstrations", noting that she appeared in the shots "with her fist raised".[10]
Following a government crackdown on protestors, members of the 88 Generation Students Group were swiftly arrested.[8]On 22 August, the day after several 88 Generation leaders had been arrested, Aye led a protest march and then went into hiding.[7]She was arrested herself on 13 October 2007 at a rubber plantation where she was hiding with fellow leadersAung Thu,Htay Kywe,Zaw Htet Ko Koand Hein Htet.[7]
Trial and imprisonment
editLeading up to her trial, Aye was detained with other activists atInsein Prison.[7]On 11 November 2008, she and other 88 Generation members were convicted of four counts of "illegally using electronic media" and one count of "forming an illegal organization", for a total sentence of 65 years in prison apiece.[11][12]Aye reportedly shouted in response to the judge, "We will never be frightened!"[13]
Amnesty International named her a prisoner of conscience and called on multiple occasions for her release.[1][14]Human Rights Watchcalled for the 2007 protesters to be exonerated and freed,[15]as didFront Line.[16]
Aye's health was said to be deteriorating as a result of her imprisonment.[14]In 2008, an NLD spokesperson alleged that prison authorities were refusing her proper treatment for her heart condition.[17]Her husband stated that she also suffers fromspondylosisandarthritis.[18]
Release
editAye was released on 13 January 2012 as part of amass presidential pardon of political prisoners.[19]
Personal life
editAye married Hla Moe in 1990 and has three children with him.[18]Hla Moe works in a car repair shop and in 2009 toldIrrawaddymagazine that he was allowed one twenty-minute prison visit with his wife per month.[18]
Death
editAye died in a car accident on 13 August 2018, nearKyaunggon,at the age of 47.[2][3][4]
References
edit- ^ab"Myanmar, Unlock the Prison Doors!"(PDF).Amnesty International. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 1 May 2011.Retrieved17 April2011.
- ^ab"ကျောင်းကုန်းမြို့အနီးတွင် မော်တော်ယာဉ်တစ်စီး တိမ်းမှောက်ရာ ၈၈ မျိုးဆက် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးနှင့် ပွင့်လင်းလူ့အဖွဲ့အစည်းမှ မမီးမီး ကွယ်လွန်".Eleven Media Group.13 August 2018.Retrieved2 September2018.
- ^ab"၈၈ မျိုးဆက် မမီးမီး ရုတ်တရက်ကွယ်လွန်".VOA News Burmese.13 August 2018.Retrieved2 September2018.
- ^ab"၈၈ မျိုးဆက် ကျောင်းသူ၊ ပွင့်လင်း လူ့ အဖွဲ့ အစည်း က မမီးမီး ကွယ်လွန်".BBC Burmese.13 August 2018.Retrieved2 September2018.
- ^ab"Burma's 1988 protests".BBC News.25 September 2007.Retrieved8 May2011.
- ^ab"Burma Crackdown Goes on Amid Fears for Women in Custody".Radio Free Asia. 17 November 2008.Retrieved8 May2011.
- ^abcdefg"Mie Mie"(PDF).Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2 June 2011.Retrieved8 May2011.
- ^ab"Key activists arrested in Burma".BBC News.13 October 2007.Retrieved21 April2011.
- ^Jenny Booth and agencies (24 September 2007)."Military junta threatens monks in Burma".The Times.Archived fromthe originalon October 10, 2008.Retrieved21 April2011.
- ^Seth Mydans (14 October 2007)."Myanmar Arrests 4 Top Dissidents, Human Rights Group Says".New York Times.Retrieved8 May2011.
- ^Jonathan Head (11 November 2008)."Harsh sentences for Burma rebels".BBC News.Retrieved17 April2011.
- ^"Burma protesters each get 65 years".Hong Kong Standard. 12 November 2008.Retrieved8 May2011.
- ^"Burma's Forgotten Prisoners".Human Rights Watch. 19 September 2009.Retrieved8 May2011.
- ^ab"Free The 88 Generation Students Group".Amnesty International. December 2009.Retrieved8 May2011.
- ^"Burma: Free Activists Sentenced by Unfair Courts".Human Rights Watch.11 November 2008.Retrieved21 April2011.
- ^"Front Line condemns the harsh sentencing of ´88 Generation members and other human rights defenders".Human Rights Watch.12 November 2008.Retrieved21 April2011.
- ^Maung Dee (6 February 2008)."88 Student Leader Mie Mie's Health Deteriorates In Detention".Mizzima News.Archived fromthe originalon 25 March 2012.Retrieved8 May2011.
- ^abcThan Htike Oo (27 November 2009)."A Husband Whose Wife is a Political Prisoner".The Irrawaddy.Retrieved8 May2011.
- ^"Photo of the Day".Yahoo!.14 January 2012.Retrieved15 January2012.