ND Burma
ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.
Female political prisoners brutally beaten in Mandalay’s Obo Prison
/in NewsA handwritten letter from inside the prison describes a two-day assault on more than 70 women using metal batons and tasers
Several women incarcerated on politically motivated charges in Mandalay’s Obo Prison have been injured in recent physical assaults by guards, according to sources in contact with the inmates.
A Mandalay-based youth activist shared with Myanmar Now parts of a handwritten eyewitness account from inside the prison detailing the beatings and when they occurred. Titled “Oppressed Prisoners,” it was delivered to him through covert channels, and described a crackdown on detainees in two women’s wards that was perpetrated on February 3 and 4.
“[The letter says] that the male prison authorities charged into the ward and beat over 70 female political prisoners. They were also allegedly hit with slingshots,” he explained.
The activist said that the document also included a list of the prisoners who had been beaten and injured.
Letter_2.Jpeg
The letter sent from inside Obo Prison
Among those subjected to the assaults was 20-year-old San Lin May, who was arrested in December 2021 after being accused of funding an urban guerrilla force. On February 3, she was convicted in a junta court of violating Section 50 of the Counterterrorism Law and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The day after her sentencing, a source close to San Lin May’s family said that guards attacked inmates in her ward following a dispute between detainees and the prison authorities. They were reportedly armed with wooden and iron batons to which tasers had been attached.
During the episode of violence, her ear was at least partially cut off.
“They were all beaten indiscriminately… San Lin May was simply caught in the crossfire of the conflict,” the source said, adding that her wound had required five stitches. “We heard that the injury was serious, and we’re all deathly worried because we have not been able to make direct contact with [the prisoners].”
Another woman identified as having been beaten that day was Po Pyae Thu, a restaurant owner known for her philanthropy work and serving a lengthy sentence after being convicted by the military council of multiple politically motivated charges.
“It worried us a lot to see her name on the list,” a friend of Po Pyae Thu said. “It’s even worse because we have not heard any updates on her condition, nor have we had direct contact with her.”
A woman released from Obo Prison three months ago told Myanmar Now that the facility’s authorities treated political prisoners with “extreme hostility, out of spite” and that other criminal convicts were also encouraged to take part in the abuse.
“The worst thing I saw in prison was that [the guards] appointed several prisoners as administrators to ‘govern’ other prisoners: criminals that were sent to prison for dealing drugs or gambling were ruling over and torturing political prisoners,” she said. “On my first day in prison, I was beaten with a belt by another prisoner for absolutely no reason at all.”
A Mandalay lawyer assisting political prisoners in Obo told Myanmar Now in October last year that the inmates were “losing their rights every day,” noting that after being subjected to violence, they were typically denied medical care.
The All Burma Federation of Student Unions released a statement last August which also revealed that Obo’s political prisoners were being starved, beaten, and even electrocuted.
In June, at least two inmates of the prison were beaten to death with metal batons during a crackdown that also left at least 13 others injured, according to two lawyers.
Similar assaults were reported over the following months by released prisoners, including an attack on August 8—the anniversary of the start of Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement—that resulted in at least one death.
Myanmar Now is unable to independently verify the incidents. The military has used health restrictions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic to deny visits to political prisoners, making it difficult to gather further information on the ongoing rights violations.
Nearly 14,000 people were still in junta prisons at the time of reporting, more than 3,000 of whom were women, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Myanmar Now News
Human Rights Situation weekly update (February 1 to 7, 2023)
/in HR Situation, NewsFrom February 2 to 7, the Military junta beheaded two civilians from Demoso, Kayah state, and Monywa, Sagaing region. On first January, the military junta arrested two civilians from Mayangone, Yangon, one from Sagaing for taking records and photos of the Silent Strike Protest. They also arrested some civilians from Naypyidaw for sharing about the Revolution on Social Media. Political prisoners from Yangon Insein Prison and Mandalay O-bo Prison got beaten and brutally tortured.
Infogram
Forced Labour
/in Cartoon Animation, Multimedia, NewsFood seller killed at interrogation centre in central Myanmar
/in NewsSoldiers arrested the man along with his wife, who is still detained in Magway Region
A man was killed at an interrogation centre in Magway Region last week, a day after he and his wife were arrested by soldiers in the river port town of Chauk, according to a local urban guerrilla group.
Kyaw Tint, 50, and his wife, Tin Mar Ni, were arrested on the evening of February 1 by a group of about 15 soldiers at their home in Chauk’s Ward 5. They were taken to an interrogation centre, where Kyaw Tint died the following morning, according to Payta, deputy leader of the Chauk Guerrilla Force (CGF).
The arrested couple sold beans and nuts for a living and had a son and two daughters, according to the CGF.
“We can’t say anything for sure, as we couldn’t see what actually happened inside the interrogation centre. But it was a certainty that they would be tortured there,” said Payta, citing local people’s accounts.
The interrogation centre, referred to as Na Ga 60 by junta soldiers, is located on Pyihtaungsu Road, which connects Chauk and Seikphyu townships via the Anawrahta Bridge on the Ayeyarwady River. The town of Chauk serves as a river port for transporting petroleum from the nearby Singu-Chauk oil fields.
An officer from a Chauk Township social welfare group confirmed that Kyaw Tint’s body was taken to the cemetery via the Chauk Township Hospital and cremated, but details on his arrest and interrogation are still unavailable.
According to Payta, Kyaw Tint’s body was cremated at the Myaynigone Cemetery. His wife was still detained at the interrogation centre at the time of reporting.
Khin Maung Yi, a member of the Chauk Myoma Market Committee who lived in Chauk’s Ward 10, was also arrested in the area in late January, according to Payta.
“This is not a transparent judicial process. They tortured a man to death. This is not something that can become the norm. This is not only violating human rights but also just downright cruel,” Payta said.
Myanmar Now is still attempting to contact the victims’ relatives regarding the case.
A similar incident took place in the same area in October 2021, when Phyo Wai Tun, the 40-year-old owner of the Tun Lin Zabu hostel, was arrested on suspicion of helping to fund the anti-junta People’s Defence Force (PDF) and was killed during interrogation. Only his ashes were returned to his family.
Some 20 soldiers from Infantry Battalion 13 came to detain Phyo Wai Tun and his two brothers in the village of Gway Pin, some 20km southeast of Chauk, at around midnight on October 30, 2021. They beat the brothers brutally for nearly an hour in their home before taking them away, and there has been no word from Phyo Wai Tun’s brothers since the arrest.
Pro-junta propaganda channels on Telegram have circulated a claim that Kyaw Tint was taken in for questioning because he was found to have sent funds to the PDF, and that he died of a heart attack during questioning.
At least 2,951 people have been killed by the military council in total, and a large number of arrests for alleged funding of resistance groups have taken place in the two years since the coup.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 13,829 people are currently detained in Myanmar for political activities, of whom 2,317 have received prison sentences.
Myanmar Now News
Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State & Tanintharyi Region (January 2023)
/in ND-Burma Members' ReportsThe first month of the year in Southeastern Burma and country-wide proved equally disastrous as those prior. Despite the multiple calls to the international community for action as the junta commits endless atrocities, they seemed to fall upon deaf ears. Across January 2023, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) documented dozens more malicious attacks against civilians. While these crimes are occurring, the regime is shamelessly continuing with their plans to hold ‘elections’ later this year. HURFOM fieldworkers reported on early cases of civilians already being bribed to vote for the military.
The Mon State Junta Administration General Administration Department (GAD) has been conducting several meetings in each township in Mon State for all levels of Administrators to operate an accurate census and prepare for the upcoming juntarun election:
“They seem like they are preparing for the election. The Mon State junta is conducting election-related activities such as instructing each level of GAD staff to collect the numbers of the population in the whole state and training the polling station officers to hold the General Election,” said a source close to HURFOM.
Human Rights Situation weekly update (January 22 to 31, 2023)
/in HR Situation, NewsHuman Rights Violations took place in States and Regions in January 22 to 31, 2023
From January 22 to 31, military junta airstrikes in Chin State, Kayah State, and Sagaing Region.They arrested three locals as a hostage, including children and a woman from Thabeikkyin township in Mandalay region.They arrested and killed civilians until now.
Infogram