Myanmar Now photographer, other prisoners subjected to retaliatory torture in Yangon prison

Personnel in Yangon’s notorious Insein Prison have inflicted daily physical abuse and torture on a Myanmar Now journalist and two other political prisoners after they exposed human rights violations, according to a source connected to the prison. Sources inside the prison said that Myanmar Now photojournalist Sai Zaw Thaike, labour rights advocate Thet Hnin Aung, and Naing Win, all of whom are serving long-term sentences in Insein Prison, have been beaten and tortured day and night by prison authorities since January. The abuse is believed to be a retaliatory response to their informing the junta-appointed National Human Rights Commission that prison staff were violating their fellow inmates’ human rights during a visit by the commission’s representatives last month. According to the commission’s recent statements, its members visited Insein Prison in October 2024 as well as in January of this year. In the second week of January, starting a day after the commission officials’ visit, authorities transferred the three political prisoners from their cells to rooms used for interrogation and punishment, then beat them each day for hours at a time, according to a member of the Insein Prison staff. “During the day, they are forced to do hard labour: lifting rocks, digging and moving soil. They’ve also forced them to scoop faeces and carry it in buckets. At night, they make them sleep on the concrete floor and beat them at will,” the Insein Prison staff member said. The mistreatment was perpetrated and overseen by regular prison staff and a prison warden named Wai Lin, according to the same source, who said it went on for more than two weeks. “They were beaten every day, tortured, and forced to do hard labour. Their access to letters from family members was also cut off. Even now, they are still being questioned, punished, and beaten,” the source added. Of the three prisoners subjected to this retaliatory abuse, Naing Win reportedly suffered the most severe physical and mental trauma. “They keep coming up with pretexts to take him out and beat him. He seems to be reaching a breaking point in his mental health,” the source said. At the time of reporting, Myanmar Now has not been able to communicate with Naing Win or otherwise verify details about his condition. Junta authorities arrested labour rights advocate Thet Hnin Aung in June 2021, later sentencing him to two years in prison under Article 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act. Just before he completed this sentence in June 2023, junta authorities convicted him on additional charges under section 52a of the Counterterrorism Law, extending his sentence by seven years. Sai Zaw Thaike, who worked as a photojournalist for Myanmar Now, was arrested by the military in Rakhine State while covering the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha in 2023. A military court sentenced him to 20 years in prison on multiple charges, including Article 27 of the Disaster Management Law; section 505a of the Penal Code, which concerns incitement; section 124 of the Penal Code, which concerns sedition; and section 66d of the Telecommunications Law. Myanmar Now is still seeking details on the condition of both Thet Hnin Aung and Sai Zaw Thaike following the weeks of torture and abuse prison authorities have inflicted on them. According to the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), since taking power in the 2021 military coup the regime has arrested nearly 29,000 people and killed 6,315, a figure that includes political prisoners. Labour rights activist leader Thet Hnin Aung

Myanmar Now photographer, other prisoners subjected to retaliatory torture in Yangon prison

Along with labour rights leader Thet Hnin Aung and another political prisoner, Naing Win, photojournalist Sai Zaw Thaike has faced beatings and other abuse by prison staff day and night since January

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