Myanmar's military government releases more than 6,100 prisoners on independence anniversary

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government granted amnesty to more than 6,100 prisoners and reduced other inmates’ sentences Sunday to mark the 78th anniversary of the country's independence from Britain.

It was not immediately clear whether those released include the thousands of political detainees imprisoned for opposing military rule.

The amnesty comes as the military government proceeds with a monthlong, three-stage election process that critics say is designed to add a facade of legitimacy to the status quo.

State-run MRTV television reported that Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the military government, pardoned 6,134 prisoners.

A separate statement said 52 foreigners will also be released and deported from Myanmar. No comprehensive list of those freed is available.

​​Other prisoners received reduced sentences, except for those convicted of serious charges such as murder and rape or those jailed on charges under various other security acts.

The release terms warn that if the freed detainees violate the law again, they will have to serve the remainder of their original sentences in addition to any new sentence.

The prisoner releases, common on holidays and other significant occasions in Myanmar, began Sunday and are expected to take several days to complete.

Buses took prisoners out of Yangon’s Insein Prison after 11 a.m., where friends and families of detainees had waited since morning for the announced releases.

Among the first group freed from Insein Prison, according to the pro-army news outlet Popular News Journal, was Ye Htut, a former high-profile army officer who had served as information minister and presidential spokesperson in a previous military-backed government.

He was arrested in October 2023 and sentenced to 10 years in prison the following month after being convicted of sedition and incitement for writing Facebook posts that allegedly spread false or inflammatory news.

However, there was no sign that the prisoner release would include former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was ousted in the military takeover in 2021 and has been held virtually incommunicado since then.

The takeover was met with massive nonviolent resistance, which has since become a widespread armed struggle.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an independent organization that keeps detailed tallies of arrests and casualties linked to the nation’s political conflicts, more than 22,000 political detainees, including Suu Kyi, were in detention as of last Tuesday.

Many political detainees had been held on a charge of incitement, a catch-all offense widely used to arrest critics of the government or military and punishable by up to three years in prison.

The 80-year-old Suu Kyi is serving a 27-year sentence after being convicted in what supporters have called politically tinged prosecutions.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement Sunday called for the military to cease violence, allow unhindered humanitarian access, release those unjustly detained and engage in dialogue to pursue a peaceful and long-term end to the crisis.

Myanmar became a British colony in the late 19th century and regained its independence on Jan. 4, 1948.

The anniversary was marked in the capital, Naypyitaw, with a flag-raising ceremony at City Hall on Sunday.

Family members and colleagues holding nameplates wait to welcome the released prisoners from Insein Prison Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

Released prisoners, in a bus, are welcomed by family members and colleagues after they left Insein Prison Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

Released prisoners, in a bus, are welcomed by family members and colleagues after they left Insein Prison Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

Released prisoners, in a bus, are welcomed by family members and colleagues after they left Insein Prison Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

A released prisoner, right, is welcomed by her colleague after she was released from Insein Prison Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

High-ranking soldiers shout commands during a ceremony marking the 78th anniversary of its Independence Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Family members and colleagues wait to welcome the released prisoners from Insein Prison Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

Family members and colleagues wait to welcome the released prisoners from Insein Prison Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

Polices set up a barricade while family members and colleagues wait to welcome the released prisoners from Insein Prison Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

A commander of an honor guard shouts during a ceremony marking the 78th anniversary of its Independence Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Myanmar Prime Minister Nyo Saw arrives to attend a ceremony marking the 78th anniversary of its Independence Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Myanmar's government officials salute at their national flag during a ceremony marking the 78th anniversary of its Independence Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Members of an honor guard leave after a ceremony marking the 78th anniversary of its Independence Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Government forces in Burkina Faso killed over twice as many civilians as militant jihadist groups over a two-year period, according to a study by Human Rights Watch, which accused both sides of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

According to the report, of the 1,837 civilians killed in the country between January 2023 and August 2025, more than 1,200 were the result of government forces. Over 2 million people are estimated to have been displaced since the conflict began, according to the United Nations.

Ilaria Allegrozzi, the senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch, told The Associated Press that the reported death toll was “most likely a gross undercount because most instances go unreported.”

The Burkina Faso authorities did not respond to requests for comment.

Human Rights Watch says that under President Ibrahim Traoré, the Burkina Faso junta has carried out “a broad crackdown” on political opposition, peaceful dissent and independent media, “fostering an atmosphere of terror and severely restricting the flow of information about the conflict and its toll.”

The landlocked nation of 23 million people has symbolized the security crisis in the Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert in recent years. It has been shaken by violence from extremist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, and the governments fighting them. The Sahel is the world's deadliest region for extremism, according to the Global Terrorism Index.

Abuses by government forces in Burkina Faso as well as militants from Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) — an Al-Qaeda aligned militant group operating in the region — amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch said.

“These atrocities, including the government’s ethnic cleansing of Fulani civilians, amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity for which senior leaders on all sides may be liable,” the 316-page report said.

In one attack detailed in the report, government forces are alleged to have executed 223 civilians, including at least 56 children, accusing them of collaborating with JNIM in the northern Yatenga province in early 2024. In a separate attack the same year, JNIM are said to have killed at least 133 civilians, including dozens of children, in the center of the county.

The targeting of civilians, particularly those of the Fulani ethnic group, appears to be the de facto policy of the Burkina Faso government, according to the rights group, with reprisal attacks against villages accused of collaborating with JNIM being common due to the group's perceived loyalty to militant groups.

“The highest levels of government appear supportive of military action against Fulani people based on these attitudes,” said the report, adding that it is not possible to get an accurate picture of the situation in the country since the military leadership has installed a system of de facto censorship. Those who do speak out risk being abducted, imprisoned or drafted into the army.

The military junta, which took power in 2022, has failed to provide the stability it promised. According to conservative estimates, more than 60% of the country is now outside of government control, more than 2.1 million people have lost their homes and almost 6.5 million need humanitarian aid to survive.

Conflict monitoring group Armed Conflict Location & Event Data estimates that least 10,600 civilians have been killed since 2016.

FILE - In this photo provided by RIA Novosti, Burkina Faso President Ibrahim Traore arrives at the Grand Palace at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on May 10, 2025. (Stanislav Krasilnikov/RIA Novosti via AP, file)