Political Prisoners

Cuba agreed Friday to reinstate an immigration agreement with the United States that will allow the return to Cuba of almost 3,000 common criminals and mentally ill persons who came to the United States among the thousands of refugees in the 1980 Mariel boatlift, the State Department announced.

It was no surprise, of course, whenFrance'snew Socialist president, Francois Hollande, celebrated his election over the weekend at the Place de la Bastille. Once the site of the nation's most notorious prison, the square has long been the place that French leftists proclaim their victories. But while many commentators noted the symbolic importance of the Bastille, they overlook how this symbol has changed over time - a transformation that may hold a lesson for President-elect Hollande.

The Cuban government has agreed to release the largest group of political prisoners in a decade, following months of talks and the intervention this week of Spain, the Roman Catholic Church in Cuba said Wednesday. In a statement posted on its website, the Archdiocese of Havana said 52 prisoners would be freed — five "in the next hours" and an additional 47 in the next three to four months. All will be allowed to leave the country, the church said. It was not clear, however, whether the Cuban government would require them to do so. Human rights activists in Cuba have insisted that freedom be granted unconditionally.

If Aung San Suu Kyi is elected to Burma's parliament on Sunday, the world will inevitably ask: Has Asia's Nelson Mandela finally met her President F.W. de Klerk? Or, if you prefer a European comparison, has Asia's Vaclav Havel met her Mikhail Gorbachev? Cue episode three in the world's prisoner-to-president sagas? I do believe that day will come, but let us have no illusions: There are still major obstacles ahead. Wisdom and strength, both inside and outside Burma, will be needed to surmount them.

Bahrain's king announced plans to release an unspecified number of political prisoners Monday in a move apparently aimed at appeasing an opposition movement that is pressing for reforms in this small Persian Gulf country. In another development, exiled Shiite opposition figure Hassan Mushaima announced plans to return from London on Tuesday. It would be another test for authorities, who have a warrant outstanding for his arrest. The monarchy says it wants to pursue a national dialogue in the aftermath of its decision last week to order security forces to open fire on anti-government demonstrators.

The government today ordered the release of all political prisoners in a sweeping amnesty that covers senior jailed activists of the outlawed Solidarity free trade union movement. The official news agency PAP said Interior Minister Gen. Czeslaw Kiszczak ordered 225 prisoners freed by Monday in light of "the state of security" in the country. The amnesty would not cover those accused or convicted of terrorism, spying or sabotage, PAP said.

An art exhibition titled "Guilty Until Proven Innocent" that focuses on what the artist describes as "political prisoners and internal exile" has opened in Watts. Riga 97, who was born in the Maderia Islands of Portugal and who changes his last name every 12 months to match the calendar year, is displaying a variety of arts forms at the exhibition hall of the Watts Labor Community Action Center.

The government of President-for-Life Jean Claude Duvalier said last week that there are no political prisoners left in Haiti. A communique from the Ministry of Police dated April 30 but made available last week said, "There are no more political prisoners in Haitian jails." The government daily Le Nouveau Monde reported Tuesday that 36 political prisoners, among them 15 agronomists who worked for U.S.-sponsored development projects, had been freed.

The Sandinista government released 25 political prisoners Saturday in a move that an opposition leader said showed "flexibility" in compliance with the Central American peace accords. The prisoners, mainly opposition leaders, were among 38 who had been held since police forcefully broke up a July 10 demonstration in Nandaime, about 40 miles southeast of Managua. The 25 were ordered freed by a regional appeals court in Grenada.

Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Cuba this week is clearly intended to be a pastoral mission, not a political one. Coinciding with the 400th anniversary of the island's patron saint, the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, it is timed to help revive interest in Catholicism in one of Latin America's less devout countries and to draw followers to the church. But we hope Benedict's visit will serve another objective as well: to persuade President Raul Castro to abandon his crackdown on dissidents and show greater respect for human rights.

Bob Dylan has been lauded so often as "the poet laureate of rock 'n' roll" that even the man himself, who for decades protested the notion that he was speaking for anything but his own musical muse, eventually caved and now incorporates the phrase into the voice-over introduction at his own concerts. This week, a massive new four-CD tribute album, "Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International," amplifies that sentiment with recordings by 80 artists of 75 of his songs that demonstrate his influence not just on his own generation but on several succeeding ones.

Myanmar released fewer prisoners Wednesday than some activists and relatives expected, deflating hope that the regime was trying to dramatically improve its battered human rights reputation. Between 120 and 300 detainees were set free out of a total of 6,359 granted a "humanitarian" amnesty that coincides with a religious holiday and a trip to India by President Thein Sein. The number was difficult to pin down immediately because of staggered release times at prisons across the country, also known as Burma.

Myanmar announced plans Tuesday to release more than 6,300 prisoners in the latest of several modest reform steps taken by the long-isolated nation, although it wasn't immediately clear how many of those to be freed are political detainees. Human rights groups, dissident organizations and analysts welcomed the move, but said they remained skeptical that a fundamental change was underway. The military regime in Myanmar, also known as Burma, has ruled the country with an iron fist for decades.

Every month for nearly 10 years, Ezzedin abu Azza's family traveled to the gates of Abu Salim prison in Tripoli to deliver a package of clothes, food and medicine, not knowing whether it ever reached him. They hadn't seen him since the day in 1993 when the 23-year-old was taken away for questioning by state security agents. But still they made their journey from Benghazi every month. Then, in 2002, the family was told he had died, six years earlier. Photos: A journey from Libya back to Egypt Here in this eastern city that has long simmered with resentment over the brutal rule of Moammar Kadafi, the Abu Azzas were among the lucky ones.

At least 300 people were freed early Wednesday from Bahrain's jails, but rather than calming the waters, the releases could very well intensify the nation's already charged atmosphere. With an angry public now calling for the ouster of King Hamed ibn Isa Khalifa, some of those pardoned could find an audience far more receptive than when they were jailed by the island's security services. Some shouted "Death to Khalifa!" on Wednesday night as they listened to accounts of torture in Bahrain's jail.

Bahrain's king announced plans to release an unspecified number of political prisoners Monday in a move apparently aimed at appeasing an opposition movement that is pressing for reforms in this small Persian Gulf country. In another development, exiled Shiite opposition figure Hassan Mushaima announced plans to return from London on Tuesday. It would be another test for authorities, who have a warrant outstanding for his arrest. The monarchy says it wants to pursue a national dialogue in the aftermath of its decision last week to order security forces to open fire on anti-government demonstrators.

Tunisia's transitional government on Wednesday began to redress alleged financial and political abuses of the deposed ruler and his family as a measure of calm returned to a country roiled less than a week ago by a popular uprising. Newly sworn-in officials launched an investigation into the financial dealings of former President Zine el Abidine ben Ali, who fled the country Friday. They also have taken steps to address some of the human rights abuses during Ben Ali's 23-year-reign, announcing the release of 1,800 political prisoners.