Amnesty International says Philip Blackwood, a New Zealander jailed in Myanmar, is a prisoner of conscience.

Philip Blackwood, a Kiwi jailed in Myanmar, has been classified as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.

A report being released on Thursday, titled Back to the Bad Old Ways, says there are now at least 91 prisoners of conscience in the country, formerly known as Burma – up from just two in 2013.

It was calling for Myanmar to free all prisoners of conscience ahead of elections in one month's time.

"Myanmar's government is trying to spin an alternate reality where all is rosy for human rights, which the international community is far too eager to accept," Amnesty Myanmar researcher Laura Haigh said.

"The reality on the ground could not be more different.

"Authorities have intensified a chilling crackdown on freedom of expression over the past year."

The clampdown had affected a range of people perceived as threats to the government, including human rights defenders, lawyers, opposition activists, students, trade unionists and journalists, she said.

Blackwood has been locked up in a notoriously tough Myanmar prison since late 2014, after he was arrested for posting a picture of Buddha in headphones on Facebook in a promotion of his local bar.

His family recently said they had received more help from Britain – where Blackwood was born – than from New Zealand.

The Amnesty report said there had been a "surge in repression" ahead of the November 8 elections with peaceful activists kept in pre-trial detention.

"Their goal has been straightforward – take 'undesirable' voices off the streets way ahead of the elections and make sure they're not heard," Haigh said.

Amnesty International New Zealand executive director Grant Bayldon said Blackwood made the list – the only foreigner among the 91 – because he was jailed for freedom of expression.

Now Amnesty had complied the list it would be lobbying government's, including New Zealand's, to take all diplomatic avenues possible to lobby for the release of the 91 prisoners.

The best hope of this happening was on November 6, two days before the elections, when Myanmar was before the United Nations for a four-yearly review of its human rights record.

All UN member countries then had a chance to say where they thought Myanmar was abusing human rights.

A spokesperson for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Murray McCully, said New Zealand regularly took opportunities to raise human rights issues with the government of Myanmar.

"The periodic review is a chance for UN member states to consider Myanmar's progress to date and encourage universal adherence to human rights norms.

"NZ will take this opportunity to reiterate our view that, while progress is being made, there are still areas for improvement."