According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), more than 2,000 political prisoners have died in Myanmar’s prisons since the country was plunged into conflict by a military coup more than four years ago.
To discuss this grim statistic, and to learn more about current conditions inside the country’s prisons, Myanmar Now spoke recently to Bo Kyi, the AAPP’s founder and joint secretary.
As the civil war rages on, he said, the treatment of prisoners continues to deteriorate. Many suffer from disease and chronic illness due to a lack of food, medicine, and hygiene, while some are transferred to conflict zones for use as human shields.
Those who dare to expose the regime’s abuses, such as Myanmar Now photojournalist Sai Zaw Thaike, are subjected to especially harsh treatment. Despite this, however, many behind bars remain defiant.
Meanwhile, the AAPP continues to work closely with international bodies, including the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), to document crimes so that junta authorities can one day be brought to justice, according to Bo Kyi.
Myanmar Now: What are the most common methods of torture or mistreatment that detainees face in junta prisons?
Bo Kyi: Physical and mental torture is intended to scare and oppress them in an effort to assert violent control. It includes the most famous “pon san” stress position, which has been used systematically throughout the decades, along with electric shocks, hanging the detainee upside down by ropes, forcing the detainee to drink toilet water, and burning and kicking parts of the body. And now, anyone can be subject to sexual violence.
MN: Can you describe the physical and mental health conditions of prisoners who have been released?
BK: Release does not actually mean that they are free. Many cannot afford to flee the country and have to stay living under the military’s surveillance. Many continue to be arrested multiple times after their release.
And at the same time, while they have to live with the trauma of prison, many lose their livelihood and have to rely on family members. Many are also left disabled or with persistent medical conditions because of their time in prison and interrogation centres, which are often too expensive to treat.
We have documented severe brutality across all the prisons in Burma. But conflict is growing across the country and those who are detained in prisons in those areas face danger in different ways. While civilians flee, prisoners are used by the military as human shields, and we have documented fatalities as a result.
MN: Have you observed any patterns in who the junta targets for arrest? Are certain groups, such as activists, journalists, or ethnic minorities, facing harsher treatment?
BK: Before, just after the coup, the military was targeting protesters, particularly those who they saw as protest leaders. But now, they target anyone who believes those who do not support them.
The military uses more brutal methods to oppress the people when they feel they are losing. Many are transferred to prisons in conflict areas as a form of punishment. Authorities continue to refuse access to necessities and conditions inside are deteriorating as a result.
MN: Are there any known prison commanders or military units with a reputation for extreme brutality? What kind of documentation of these commanders has been accomplished?
BK: We could not say a specific place, but we have documentation of brutality across all prisons in Burma.
The AAPP has been able to document the situation in prisons because of our networks. We are working with the IIMM for accountability against military leaders, prison authorities, judges and police officers for the crimes they have committed: torture, extrajudicial killing, mass killing, and so on, which are all against international law.
MN: How difficult is it for families to locate and communicate with detained relatives?
BK: Many political prisoners are being transferred to remote prisons such as Thayarwaddy prison, so it is difficult for families to travel to these areas and to communicate with them. To travel, you need money and a recommendation letter from the police in your local area, but in some cases they cannot get a letter because ward administrators are hiding in many areas.
In Sagaing and Magway it is really difficult to travel because they don’t have identity cards. Accommodation is also difficult to get. There are also financial difficulties—there is no transportation so you need a private car to travel. But many cannot afford this.
MN: What happens to the bodies of those who die in custody? Are families given accurate information about the cause of death?
BK: The military always lies about the cause of death, citing natural causes. Many do not get the body back but those who do get to see the body have seen injuries that are consistent with torture, even if they are told that they died of natural causes.
Torture, including psychological threats, are used systematically, particularly during interrogation. There have also been cases where they arrest family members as a form of psychological torture to coerce confession. Psychological torture continues even after release, with ongoing threats to prisoners and their families.
MN: How do former prisoners describe their experience in solitary confinement or isolation?
BK: They are denied their basic rights. We are told that political prisoners are put in solitary confinement, sometimes six individuals in one cell. They are frequently put in shackles, paired with another prisoner.
MN: What is the state of access to medical care for prisoners? Are they intentionally denied treatment?
BK: Many tell us that they are just provided paracetamol, no matter what their illness is. Sometimes they are not allowed to receive it from family members, but have to buy this medicine from prison authorities at extortionate prices.
Those who are in critical condition are often refused transfer to a public hospital. It is common that they are transferred to outside hospitals by prison authorities only when they are close to dying, so that they are not responsible for the death.
Also, systems for excretion, including water and sewage, which were already in poor condition, have now deteriorated to a state where hygiene is virtually non-existent as a result of the growing prison population. Due to the excessive and overwhelming number of inmates in prisons, various types of skin diseases are easily transmitted among all prisoners.
Many are caused by poor water quality. The same water is often used for both bathing and for the toilet and is shared between 40 or 50 people. Many also do not have access to a water purification system, so they have to drink unclean water. The prison healthcare system is also practically non-existent, making it impossible to treat such health-related issues.
MN: Despite such harsh conditions, have you heard of prisoners organising or resisting from within the prison system?
BK: Actually, while the brutality exists, prison is a university for political prisoners, they are sites of resistance. We advise them that when they protest they should make demands on their prison conditions rather than political demands because they are more likely to get these demands met. If there is a particularly brutal act that occurs in the prison, political prisoners feel more compelled to protest, despite the inevitable crackdown. Many carry out hunger strikes and others protest with chants and songs.
MN: What can the international community do to better support political prisoners and their families in Myanmar?
BK: We urgently call for strong and sustained support from the international community to exert meaningful pressure on the junta for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, including President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Furthermore, we appeal for international assistance in providing humanitarian aid to political prisoners and their families who continue to face severe economic hardship and relentless harassment under the junta’s oppressive rule.
*This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity
