Two political prisoners die after being denied medical care in Mon State

Two political prisoners in Mon State’s Kyaikmayaw Prison died over the past week after being denied sufficient medical interventions for injuries suffered during interrogation and for treatment for other health issues. The victims included 46-year-old Rashin, also known as Har Shin, who was serving a life sentence for a terrorism conviction, and Pyae Phyo Aung, a 31-year-old firefighter also imprisoned on terrorism charges over taking part in the anti-junta Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). According to a statement released by the Political Prisoners’ Network-Myanmar (PPN-M), a local volunteer group supporting the welfare of political detainees, Rashin sustained major injuries during his interrogation last year. He visited the prison hospital several times for his health issues, but died on January 12. “He had been getting chest pains since November last year,” said PPN-M official Thaik Tun Oo. “He also got internal injuries during the interrogation and he would request permission to get treatment at an outside hospital every time the prison doctors visited him, but they only let him go once it was already too late.” Rashin was a resident of Mote Soe Kyun village in Kyaikmayaw and was sentenced in the Mawlamyine District Court, the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said. Pyae Phyo Aung died at 1am on Tuesday after prison authorities failed to give him timely medical attention for unidentified abdominal issues, an AAPP official told Myanmar Now. “He died at an external hospital after claiming he felt some indigestion,” the official explained. “The prison hospital put him on oxygen and sent him to the outside hospital but he died upon arrival.” The individual described the healthcare in Kyaikmayaw Prison as “getting much worse,” and noted that the hospital on site is overseen by a superintendent who “never stays there full-time.” Pyae Phyo Aung was arrested in Hpa-An Township, Karen State, last January, and sentenced to seven years in prison for terrorism his participation in the general strike associated with the CDM. Recent abuses of political prisoners have been reported in several prisons across the country, including Kalay in Sagaing Region and Daik-U in Bago. Around 30 political detainees in Kalay continue to be held in solitary confinement after being isolated for allegedly attempting a prison break nearly two years ago; they only had their ankle shackles removed earlier this month, PPN-M said. In Daik-U, prison authorities are said to be limiting and rationing inmates’ drinking and bathing water. Social welfare groups have requested that prisoners nationwide have access to better healthcare, visits to outside hospitals, and permission to receive life-saving medications. According to the AAPP, at the time of reporting there were nearly 20,000 political prisoners incarcerated across Myanmar. Since the coup in early 2021, the junta has released 90,000 inmates from its jails, but more than 90 percent of these pardons went to non-political prisoners. Those political prisoners who were included in the schemes had nearly already completed their sentences by the time they were freed, studies show.

Two political prisoners die after being denied medical care in Mon State

An official monitoring conditions in Kyaikmayaw Prison says healthcare is ‘getting much worse’ after a 46-year-old and 31-year-old die at the site within a week

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