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Prisoner beaten to death in Myingyan Prison

October 10, 2022/in News

The prison, which holds hundreds of political detainees, has become one of the most notorious in the country since last year’s coup A prisoner who was sent to Mandalay Region’s Myingyan Prison last week was beaten to death within a day of his arrival, according to prison sources. Nay Myo Oo, a resident of the […]

Prospects for Peace in Myanmar

October 3, 2022/in Justice Newsletters

Prisoner beaten to death in Myingyan Prison

October 10, 2022/in News

Prospects for Peace in Myanmar

October 3, 2022/in Justice Newsletters

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Prisoner beaten to death in Myingyan Prison

October 10, 2022/in News

The prison, which holds hundreds of political detainees, has become one of the most notorious in the country since last year’s coup

A prisoner who was sent to Mandalay Region’s Myingyan Prison last week was beaten to death within a day of his arrival, according to prison sources.

Nay Myo Oo, a resident of the village of Nabu in Mandalay’s Taungtha Township, was transferred to the prison on the afternoon of October 3 to serve a one-month sentence for drunk and disorderly conduct.

Soon after his arrival, however, he was viciously beaten by four officials, according to an inmate of the prison.

In a letter received by Myanmar Now from a source close to the prison, the inmate claims that the officials—Thant Zin Maung, Win Myat Ko, Nay Zaw and Thiha Naing—inflicted multiple injuries on the victim when they ganged up on him.

When Nay Myo Oo was found dead the next day, a prison warden named Myat Kyaw Thu ordered officials to state that he had choked to death on his own vomit, the letter adds.

An officer of the Monywa Township People’s Strike Committee familiar with the incident confirmed the details of the letter’s account.

“The prison authorities beat him up for his drunken behaviour and for running around in his cell,” said the officer, adding that Nay Myo Oo was denied medical treatment despite his injuries.

According to the officer, the victim had broken bones, was bleeding from his eyes and mouth, and was also struggling to breathe.

A prison officer stands guard at the main entrance of Shwebo Prison in early May 2019 (EPA)

In August, hundreds of political prisoners were transferred to Myingyan Prison from Mandalay’s Obo Prison and Monywa Prison in Sagaing Region. Many have been singled out for abuse, dissident sources have reported.

Zin Min Htet, the chair of the Monywa Student Union, is said to have been beaten unconscious inside the prison for refusing to cut his hair or “sit in position” as ordered by prison authorities. Another student leader was also attacked for attempting to protect him, sources reported.

Besides being subjected to various forms of torture, Myingyan inmates are also reportedly forced to do hard labour and pay bribes to officials.

Dr. Myint Naing, the ousted chief minister of the Sagaing Region, is among the prison’s political detainees.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been denied permission to visit Myanmar’s prisons since last year’s coup.

“They don’t care about the ICRC,” said one activist, referring to prison authorities. “They openly say that international organisations don’t matter anymore.”

The families of prisoners say that many detainees are transferred to remote locations to make it more difficult for them to maintain contact and provide care packages.

Myanmar Now News

Prospects for Peace in Myanmar

October 3, 2022/in Justice Newsletters

Achieving peace in Myanmar has been a long and troubling journey as the Myanmar junta has historically jeopardized and devastated all possibilites. This is evident through a long line of broken ceasefires and attacks on vulnerable, unarmed populations. Throughout different periods, the violence perpetrated against ethnic people has led to hundreds of thousands fleeing for their lives to border areas in order to seek refuge. Since the attempted military coup on 1 February 2021, efforts for peace have all but exhausted themselves as the terrorist-in-chief, Min Aung Hlaing, attempts to engage on a peace dialogue with ethnic armed organizations.

To ND-Burma members, such as the Association Human Rights Defenders and Promoters, peace is rooted in freedom from civil war, and agreement and harmony among all people. One challenge that has remained across Myanmar’s seven decades of brutal warfare has been building a truly federal arrangement that addresses the self-governance aspirations:

“For a multicultural society like Myanmar, the greatest test of democracy and peace is whether the government treats its minorities equal to the majority,” said Ko Aung Zaw Oo of the Association Human Rights Defenders and Promoters.

“Peace building becomes strategic when it works over the long run and at all levels of society to establish and sustain relationships among people locally and globally,” he added.

Unity is also a significant challenge as noted by ND-Burma affiliate member the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO). A free and fair federal union has long been the goal of ethnic people who believe peace is rooted in, “the right to work without any interference and disturbance when working in a group,” said Salai Benjamin, a field staff at CHRO, adding peace requires that everyone is equal.

At its core, one of the major challenges to achieving peace in Myanmar has been the deeply flawed and problematic 2008-military drafted Constitution. The document protects the military junta across nearly all legal and social sectors of society. This on its own also enables and emboldens impunity.

In addition, chauvinism and authoritarian rule have undermined prospects for peace as the military corrupts the economy. There is a lack of rights for ethnic people who have long felt marginalized and discriminated against. Consequently, there is a lack of trust in the peace building process.

ND-Burma member, the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand, has advocated for truth-seeking and protection mechanisms to be developed.

“The Myanmar Army commits atrocities against civilians and deliberately commits genocide and war crimes as well as crimes against humanity,” said Ah San, the Program Coordinator of the Documentation and Research Program at ND-Burma member organization, the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT).

Women have also routinely been denied roles in the peace building process, and have had their inputs and experience side-lined. “Women must be involved and must be supported in any matters related to peace,” said Ah San from KWAT.

Another key element discussed by ND-Burma members as it relates to peace is the importance of reparations and truth-seeking initiatives to ensure that past grievances are resolved through an inclusive process of national reconciliation. This begins by dismantling the Myanmar military and reinstating the democratically elected National League for Democracy.

Justice Newsletter-Sep 2022

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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.

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