The Myanmar’ military is notorious for violently suppressing political dissent, resorting to murder and prolonged imprisonment of dissidents. Even after being incarcerated, political prisoners continue to endure severe violations of their basic human rights and dignity.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), political prisoners are defined as “anyone arrested, detained, or imprisoned because of their perceived or known active role, perceived, or known supporting role, or in association with activities promoting freedom, justice, equality, human rights, including ethnic rights, in association with the pro-democracy movement.” As of October 31, 2024, a staggering 27,612 individuals have been arrested for political reasons, with 21,062 still detained, including 4,065 women and 209 children. This alarming statistic underscores the scale of repression in Myanmar since the military coup in February 2021.
The conditions within military prisons are harrowing. Overcrowding, inadequate facilities, torture, arbitrary detention, denial of trial and even killings are all too common. Basic hygiene and medical care are often denied, leading to a further deterioration of health among inmates. Reports describe unsanitary conditions that foster the spread of disease, with limited access to clean water and food. International organizations and human rights groups have condemned these practices, calling for the release of political prisoners and accountability for the military’s actions.
However, the victims of the military’s treatment of political prisoners continue to rise. On October 7, 2024, 70-year-old Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, a staunch life-long leader of Myanmar’s democracy movement and former Chief Minister of Mandalay Region, died in junta custody. Sources indicated that he was transferred to Mandalay General Hospital two weeks prior due to a worsening condition that the prison infirmary could not manage; he died at 3 a.m. on Monday. His death highlights the severe neglect of prisoners’ medical needs, and many argue that he died early due to the denial of timely treatment. Similarly, just last month, a documentary filmmaker and political activist, Pe Maung Same, son of a prominent cartoonist and political activist Pe Thein, died at the age of 50 due to complications from tuberculosis, three days after being granted a medical parole. While the deaths of prominent political prisoners receive some media attention, many more remain unrecorded within the junta’s prisons. AAPP has verified a total of 1,944 deaths in detention, encompassing prisons, interrogation centers, military barracks and other forms of arbitrary arrest and confinement.
In an interview, a former female political prisoner, Theint (pseudonym), who spent two years in the junta’s prison recounted the horrific conditions and neglect of medical care. Released in January 2024, she shared her harrowing experiences, revealing the inhumane treatment she and her fellow inmates endured. Overcrowding led to widespread skin diseases among inmates, exacerbated by a shortage of water and unsanitary conditions. Female prisoners, for instance, were forced to clean and carry buckets of feces, once filled in the toilets, with their bare hands, resulting in drug-resistant skin infections affecting over 97% of them. The prison houses more than 3,000 inmates but has only one 50-bed infirmary with no doctors. A male doctor, originally from the prison for men, comes to the female prison once a week, tasked with consultations with up to 200 prisoners in an hour. There are a total of seven nurses with no official nursing certificates. Only seven nurses, lacking formal training, are responsible for medical care, having received just a few weeks of instruction themselves. Among them, two seniors received short-term medical training and they provided the training to the younger ones for 2-3 weeks to work as medical workers for prisoners.
Sick prisoners seeking treatment must inform the medical staff in advance, then wait in line for hours with 100 to 200 others under the scorching sun. They are often only given basic medications, such as paracetamol, with no opportunity to ask about their prescriptions or request specific treatments. In one alarming incident, a prisoner muttering incomprehensible words as she was suffering from a high fever, was beaten with a belt because guards believed she was possessed. Care for sick prisoners is severely restricted, with no support allowed at night when many conditions worsen. In a brutal environment where survival is a daily struggle, the psychological toll on inmates is immense.
Those with pre-existing health conditions can request medication through family parcels, but these are limited to over-the-counter drugs and are often difficult to receive. Prisoners are allowed to receive over-the-counter drugs, such as paracetamol, along with traditional ointments and supplements, but only in limited quantities—one strip of each item twice a month. If prisoners request any other medications, they must obtain a prescription. However, receiving these parcels is extremely difficult, as many political prisoners find their family members are either on the run or detained elsewhere. Even when prescriptions are issued by the doctor, the lack of family support means that political prisoners often have no one to send them the necessary medicine. For emergencies, prisoners may be transferred to a hospital, but many have died due to neglect and delays in treatment for conditions like asthma, uterine cancer, and complications during pregnancy. Radio Free Asia reported that more than 100 political prisoners have died in junta custody since the 2021 February coup.
The treatment of political prisoners in Myanmar is a stark violation of the minimum standards set forth by the First United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders in 1955, as well as subsequent resolutions. Beyond these breaches, political prisoners face intensified suffering due to decades of animosity and oppression directed at dissenters by the junta and its supporters. As the international community continues to grapple with how to respond to this ongoing crisis, calls for action grow louder. The plight of political prisoners in Myanmar serves as a grim reminder of the cost of democracy and the enduring struggle for human rights in the face of tyranny.
The situation in Myanmar remains dire, with political prisoners enduring unimaginable hardships. The stories of those affected must not be forgotten; they serve as a powerful testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the urgent need for global solidarity in the fight for justice and freedom. After enduring such hardship inside the junta’s prison for two years, Theint said she wished to see prisons as rehabilitation rather than punishment in the future.
