85
of the men. On this basis, it was decided to change the status of each of the 49
ases from investigation to full adoption.
Since the United Kingdom retains responsibility for the conduct of Brunei's external affairs and since Britain still has considerable influence in the sultanate, group activity was directed largely towards the British government. Following an extensive lobbying campaign, a number of British members of parliament wrote on behalf of groups to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office seeking official comment on the position of the 49 detainees. AI Secretary General Martin Ennals had written on 18 June 1974 to British Foreign Secretary James Callaghan requesting that he raise the question of the detainees with the authorities in Brunei. Appeals had also been addressed directly to Hassanal Bolkiah Muizaddin Waddaulah, Sultan of Brunei, and to members of his government.
On 1 November 1974, three of the 49 men were released from detention after taking an oath of loyalty to the Sultan and the Brunei government. This move followed an announcement by the Sultan in September to the effect that his government did not intend to hold the detainees indefinitely and that an advisory committee had been set up to review their cases. The committee, he announced, was to "study and review the situation of those who have realized their past wrong-doing and who are willing to mend and choose their way according to the teaching of Islam".
Further releases were made in January and March 1975, and to date a total of 11 detainees have been freed. They have all either taken an oath of loyalty or made statements condemning the leaders of the 1962 revolt. Groups continue to write to the Sultan welcoming the releases as they occur and urging the release of the remaining prisoners.
Burma
On 5 December 1974, students from Rangoon University seized the coffin of former United Nations Secretary General U Thant from a funeral procession and put it in a makeshift mausoleum on the university campus. The action was generally interpreted as a symbolic protest against the government of President Ne Win, who took power in a military coup d'état in 1962, since U Thant was identified with President Ne Win's long-standing political adversary, former President U Nu.
A week later widespread rioting and looting broke out. Martial law was declared following a night raid by troops and police on the university campus to recover U Thant's body. According to official statements, 2,887 students, Buddhist monks and women were arrested on the campus, while nine were killed and 70 wounded during the riots. (Unofficial estimates put the dead at between 50 and 70.)
By February 1975, more than 2,100 of those arrested had been released. A further 300 others were given prison sentences ranging from 3 to 12 years, after being tried by special courts in Rangoon. Another 52 were reportedly sentenced to between 3 and 10 years on 10 April 1975.
Early in 1975, the Minister of the Interior, U Ko Ko, told a meeting of the People's Assembly in Rangoon that "questioning of those detained during the riot was being sped up" and that "action would be taken only against the true