YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar began releasing some prisoners on Tuesday, but activists and relatives said a government clemency fell short of national reconciliation promises and showed that political prisoners may remain behind bars for a long time.

President Thein Sein signed a clemency order on Monday marking this week’s 64th anniversary of independence. He said the sentence reductions were “for the sake of state peace and stability” and on “humanitarian grounds.”

Under the order, death sentences will be commuted to life imprisonment, and prisoners serving more than 30 years will have their sentences cut to 30 years. Those serving 20 to 30 years will have their terms reduced to 20 years, while those with less than 20 years will have their sentences cut by one-fourth.

Most political prisoners, both from the pro-democracy movement and from out-of-favor government factions, are serving long terms and will remain in prison.

The United States said Tuesday it understood that only about 10 prisoners had been released because of the clemency order. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S. remained concerned about the more than 1,000 political prisoners still held.

Thein Sein has pushed forward reforms since taking office last March, following decades of repression under previous military regimes.

“I am very disappointed and feel hopeless because the clemency order makes no difference to political prisoners. Only common criminals will be freed,” student activist Phyo Min Thein said.

He said the decision will cause a loss of confidence in the 10-month-old nominally civilian government.

Phyo Min Thein was released from prison in 2005 after serving 15 years. His brother-in-law, activist Htay Kywe, had his 65-year sentence reduced to 30 years.

“What families of political prisoners want is absolute freedom,” said Kyi Kyi Nyunt, the sister of prominent student activist and political prisoner Min Ko Naing.