Political prisoners in Burma need our support

Since the military’s attempted coup in February 2021, the number of political prisoners has grown daily in Burma. Today, the number of political prisoners has never been so high. Any critic of the Burmese military can face arbitrary arrest, torture, sexual violence, imprisonment, and death from execution or from torture and mistreatment.

On the first day of the coup, the military arrested the country’s President, the State Counsellor, members of parliament, many government officials and outspoken activists.

Since February 2021, nearly 19,000 people have been arrested and faced charges for standing up against the military. The military continues to target politicians, community leaders, activists, celebrities and even civilians for standing up against the coup and allegedly supporting the country’s anti-coup movement. At least 140 journalists have been arrested for reporting on the human rights violations committed by the military. Many civil servants, including doctors, teachers and nurses, have been arrested for participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). The military also issued warrants and revoked licences for many doctors and nurses for taking part in the CDM.

Repressive laws and politically motivated charges

After the attempted coup, the military revised Burma’s Penal Code to target and arrest anyone who speaks out against the coup. The Code of Criminal Procedure was also amended so they could arrest people without warrants and deny bail.

Every day, groups of people are being charged under the amended version of Section 505-A of Burma’s Penal Code. Its broad language – “cause fear, spread false news, agitate directly or indirectly for a criminal offence against a government employee” makes it possible for anyone to be arrested. Punishment for violation of Section 505-A is up to 3 years in prison.

Moreover, the military has attempted to introduce a cybersecurity law allowing them to arrest and jail anyone using virtual private network (VPN) technology or digital currencies. If the law passes, VPN users will face a prison sentence ranging from 1 to 3 years, a fine of 5,000,000 kyats ($1,970), or both.

Since February 2021, Section 52 (A) of the Counter-Terrorism Law has been widely used against anyone allegedly supporting the anti-coup movement or People’s Defense Forces (PDF). Sentences under the law range from three to seven years in prison.

Torture in detention centres

Many political prisoners were held in military-controlled detention centres for a lengthy period before being charged and sent to prison. Torture, sexual harassment, and abuse in detention centres have become a common practice against activists to humiliate and break them into submission. Activists from the LGBTQ community face severe torture and harassment purely because of their sexual orientation. Often the military returns the dead bodies of activists who died during torture to family members without any explanation.

Harsh treatment and physical and verbal abuse also continue when they get transferred into prison. The sad reality for many families is that they prefer to have their loved ones inside prisons rather than in detention centres, as prisons at least mean extreme torture has stopped, and their loved ones would have a chance to live.

Death Penalty

The military has also started using the country’s official death penalty for the first time in decades and executed four political prisoners in July 2022.

In January 2022, the military sentenced two well-known activists, Ko Jimmy and Phyo Zeyar Thaw, to death following a closed and unfair trial. Ko Jimmy and Phyo Zayar Thaw were former political prisoners and were believed to be leading the revolution against the military. They were charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law for allegedly funding and working with the National Unity Government (NUG) and its People’s Defence Force (PDF), all of which are labelled as terrorist groups by the military.

Ko Jimmy and Phyo Zeyar Thaw and two other political prisoners, Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw, were executed on 25 July 2022. After the execution, the military refused to return the bodies to the families and cremated the bodies without consent from the families.

Currently, hundreds more activists have been sentenced to death, and many of them are young students who stood up against the coup. On 1 December 2022, seven university students under the age of 25 were sentenced to death for their alleged involvement in a shooting that killed a former military officer. They are now awaiting execution.

Previous military juntas had used the death sentence against people as a strategy for many decades intended to create fear and repress uprisings against the dictatorship. Many pro-democracy leaders, members of ethnic armed groups and student activists were sentenced to death in the past, but no executions had been carried out since 1988. The military often commuted these death sentences to life imprisonment or granted amnesty to such prisoners. These executions in July marked the first executions in over 30 years.

However, while no official execution had taken place in Burma for over three decades, civilians have often been killed unlawfully in detention centres, especially in remote ethnic areas.

Trials inside prisons

Trials are being held inside prisons out of public view, and families cannot attend. Some are allowed to have lawyers, but it’s hard to know how many are on trial without legal counsel. Trials in Burma are just formalities, and almost all of them would certainly be sentenced under politically motivated charges.

For example, in February 2022, two young students from Dawei University were arrested and sentenced to 7 years in prison for making 5,000-kyat (2 dollars) donations to assist internally displaced people (IDPs). They were charged under Section 52b of Myanmar’s Counter-Terrorism Law for allegedly funding anti-coup activities.

Similarly, nine female medics working to help PDF members were sentenced to 12 years in prison in November 2022 on terror and sedition charges after being detained for a year. Three other members who were arrested at the same time were reportedly tortured to death. The nine medics, aged between 20 and 28, were beaten during the interrogation and did not receive a fair trial before being sentenced.

Lawyers arrested and tortured

Lawyers who are representing political prisoners also face intimidation, harassment and arrest. For example, on 29 June 2022, lawyer Tin Win Aung was arrested in Obo Prison in Mandalay along with two other lawyers, who were defending their clients.

The lawyers had been attending trials in a special court in prison. Tin Win Aung was tortured after his arrest and sustained multiple injuries, including a broken arm, during interrogation. According to reports, as of July 2022, the military has arrested at least 42 lawyers since the coup.

Prison Conditions

Political prisoners who survive torture in detention centres are being held in overcrowded, unhygienic prisons with harsh conditions. Not only are they not able to get medical treatment for injuries they sustained from torture, but they also receive brutal treatment from prison guards. Since no family visits are allowed, some political prisoners have not seen their family members since February 2021, and often they have no contact with each other.

There are reports of brutal, harsh and degrading treatment of political prisoners by prison guards. There are also reports that CCTV operates 24 hours a day in the women’s quarters of Insein Prison, which raise concerns for the security, privacy and dignity of female political prisoners.

Burma’s prisons are known for being unhygienic and not providing adequate food or healthcare. Now prisons are overcrowded as arrests continue. Some have been arrested with injuries, and some need regular health care for their underlying health issues such as hypertension, diabetes, or cancer.

Families also have to provide food, medicines and other essentials regularly, which puts a financial toll on them. Not all families can afford to send food regularly, so many political prisoners have to survive on watery soup, bad rice and fish paste.

Released political prisoners

Mass amnesty or the release of political prisoners has often been used as a PR tool to show a sign of goodwill to the public and to appease international pressure. The military often includes high-profile political prisoners in the list of released prisoners to draw media attention. In November 2022, the military released around 5000 prisoners, but only 600 were political prisoners. Foreign nationals, including former British Ambassador to Burma, Vicky Bowman, Australian economic adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi, Sean Turnell, and Japanese filmmaker Toru Kubota, were released and deported immediately.

However, while these mass releases gain some international attention, the military continues to arrest many more activists hence the revolving door of political prisoners continues to spin in Burma.

Political prisoners who have been released should not have been in prison in the first place, and most of the time, they were released because they nearly finished serving their sentences. They are likely to be re-arrested if the military sees them as a threat, even if they haven’t done anything. For example, a prominent peace activist and singer, Saw Pho Khwar, was released on 15 November, only to be re-arrested under a different charge when he reached the prison’s exit.

Life after release

Many university students should be pursuing their dreams, but instead, they are being thrown into jail for protesting. It is unlikely they will be able to return to their studies after prison. Similarly, nurses, doctors, teachers and other professionals have lost their jobs for participating in anti-coup movements, and they won’t be able to return to their work after their release.

For example, in November 2022, the junta’s Ministry of Health revoked the licences of 557 government-employed doctors who left their jobs to protest against the military and for taking part in the country’s Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM).

For many decades, criminal records for political prisoners have been used as a form of repression by the junta to ostracise activists and to discourage people from speaking out. Having a criminal record can impact them and their families for the rest of their lives, often meaning struggling to survive and living in poverty.

In addition, most former political prisoners need to readjust to their lives outside prison. They need help financially to restart their lives and mental health support after going through torture, sexual assaults and imprisonment. But under previous dictatorships and successive governments, none of the former political prisoners have received an apology or compensation for being unlawfully arrested.

Political prisoners in Burma need our support.

Here are two actions you can take:

1. Email British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly urging him to speak out more for the political prisoners in Burma and to call for their immediate release.
2. Write to political prisoners in jail. Let them know that they are not forgotten.