Phyu Phyu Thin is a Burmese

Bamar

The Bamar are the dominant ethnic group of Burma , constituting approximately two-thirds of the population. The Bamar live primarily in the Irrawaddy basin, and speak the Burmese language, which is also the official language of Burma. Bamar customs and identity are closely intertwined with general...

 HIV

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

/AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 activist and supporter of the National League for Democracy

National League for Democracy

The National League for Democracy is a Burmese political party founded on 27 September 1988. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi serves as its General Secretary. The party won a substantial parliamentary majority in the 1990 Burmese general election. However, the ruling military junta...

. On May 21, 2007, Phyu Phyu Thin was arrested by police in Yangon

Yangon

Yangon is a former capital of Burma and the capital of Yangon Region . Although the military government has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006, Yangon, with a population of over four million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial...

 for organizing a prayer rally to call for the release of detained National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi, AC is a Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained...

. Never told what crime she had committed, she was held for more than a month, and was released on July 2, 2007.

As an activist, Phyu Phyu Thin has been an outspoken critic of the State Peace and Development Council

State Peace and Development Council

The State Peace and Development Council was the official name of the military regime of Burma , which seized power in 1988. On 30 March 2011, Senior General Than Shwe signed a decree to officially dissolve the Council....

, which she says is understating the number of HIV and AIDS cases in Myanmar

Myanmar

Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

. She operates a clinic in Yangon that provides treatment, medicine and counseling to HIV and AIDS patients.

On June 5, 11 AIDS patients, who were participating in prayer rallies, calling for the release of Phyu Phyu Thin, were detained at Waybargi Infectious Diseases Hospital. They were later released on June 8. The United States Department of State

United States Department of State

The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...

 also called for Phyu Phyu Thin's release.

While in detention, Phyu Phyu Thin staged a hunger strike

Hunger strike

A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...

, taking only liquids for about one week. Her family, which had not been told where she was being held, said it would file a missing person's case with police.

Phyu Phyu Thin has previously been detained in 2000, after she and other Suu Kyi supporters were bundled away by police from a rally for Suu Kyi. She was held for a time in Insein

Insein

Not to be confused with Insein, KaleInsein Township is located in the northern Yangon. The township comprises 21 wards, and shares borders with Shwepyitha township in the north, Hlaingthaya township in the west, and Mingaladon township in the east and south...

 prison.

In 2007, People in Need

People In Need (Czech Republic)

People in Need is a Czech nonprofit, non-governmental organization that implements humanitarian relief and long term development projects in crisis regions all over the world, while working to defend human rights and democratic freedom....

 awarded Phyu Phyu Thin, along with fellow prisoners Su Su Nway

Su Su Nway

Su Su Nway , is a democracy activist, political prisoner, and member of the National League for Democracy . In 2005, she became the first Burmese national to successfully sue local government officials under a 1999 law forced labour....

 and Nilar Thein

Nilar Thein

Nilar Thein is a Burmese democracy activist and political prisoner currently held at Thayet prison in Burma's Magway Region. Amnesty International considers her a prisoner of conscience.-8888 uprising and subsequent arrests:Nilar Thein is from Yangon, Burma...

, their Homo Homini Award.