(MENAFN- QNA) The Myanmar government has announced that it is releasing more than 3,000 of its prisoners for the sake of peace and stability
The Ministry of Information announced the amnesty on its website on Tuesday, saying the prisoners were being freed "on humanitarian grounds, according to the BBC.
It did not refer specifically to political prisoners, and most of those released had committed minor crimes.
The Political Prisoner Scrutiny Committee said that at least 13 of those pardoned were jailed on political offences and at least eight were former senior military intelligence officers detained after the 2004 ousting of former prime minister and intelligence chief, Khin Nyunt.
Most political prisoners in Myanmar have been released as part of the reform process. Human rights groups estimate a few hundred are still being held.
President Thein Sein, who won power in 2010 in elections which saw military rule replaced with a military-backed civilian government, has pledged to release all political prisoners.
In recent years media restrictions in Myanmar have also been relaxed and the opposition has rejoined the political process. In response, most international sanctions against Burma were loosened.
However, human rights groups have consistently called for every last political prisoner to be released and said that it is unclear exactly how many are still in custody.
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