Former student leaders have recently requested improved conditions for political prisoners jailed by Burma’s military regime, said one prominent member of the group on Friday. 

“We have directly asked the Home Minister for proper treatment for all political prisoners,” Pyone Cho said by phone from Rangoon. Pyone Cho was a leader of the Rangoon University Student Union that played a key role in the pro-democracy uprising in 1988. 

The student leader, who spent more than 14 years in prison, said that political prisoners in Burma are currently treated the same as criminals, but that they should be classified on the basis of their political status and differentiated from other types of prisoners.

Under British rule, prisons in Burma had three classes: A, B and C. Class A designated foreigners or high-ranking officials, while Class B was reserved for political activists, nationalists and civil servants. Class C denoted criminals.

The British Class B allowed inmates with that designation access to books, journals, newspapers and proper food rations such as milk, coffee, butter etc. The late dictator Ne Win abolished the British prison classifications in 1962 when he took control of the Burmese government.

Currently, there are more than 1,300 political prisoners incarcerated under severe conditions in the junta’s jails across the country, according to Thai-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).

Pyone Cho said that a group of former student leaders, including Min Ko Naing—the most prominent among them—requested improvements in the conditions of political prisoners during a meeting with Home Minister Maj-Gen Maung Oo. 

The student leader quoted the minister as saying: “They [political prisoners] are also citizens, so they also must have all rights of a citizen.” The minister told the student leaders that he would submit their request to his superiors.

The group of former student leaders also requested that political prisoners be allowed to continue their education upon their release, Pyone Cho added. The Burmese authorities have banned some former political prisoners from continuing their education after serving their sentences in prison. 

Thet Win Aung, the younger brother of Pyone Cho, has suffered severe health problems in Mandalay prison. Pyone Cho said that his brother could not walk when his family recently visited him.

Thet Win Aung, who is serving a 59-year sentence for his political activities, has been hospitalized in Mandalay prison for almost two years. He was sentenced in 1998.

Amnesty International recently reported that many political prisoners are elderly and suffering from severer illness after years of imprisonment and ill-treatment. The rights group included Thet Win Aung in its list.