Political Prisoners Network (Myanmar) announced today (February 11th) that the prison staff is oppressing the prisoners in Myingyan Prison, Mandalay Region, and the food and water situations of the prisoners are deteriorating.
Even the 60-year-old political prisoners imprisoned in Myingyan Prison are being forced to do hard labor, which is mandatory.
“Female political prisoners in their 60s are forced to do farming and knitting. Knitting is difficult because they have to work with their eyes. They must do it for the whole day. Even women of mothers’ ages are forced to do it,” said Thaik Tun Oo, a member of the head committee of the Political Prisoners Network (Myanmar).
Such oppression over political prisoners was led by Zin Mar Oo with a two-star officer, Daw May Soe Aye with a one-star officer, and Nu Nu Mar, who were transferred from a police station in Rakhine State to Myingyan Prison in June 2023.
“The main thing is that female political prisoners are not given a place; they are kept in places like discipline enforcement, like other criminals. When the prison wants to oppress the inmates, they don’t do it themselves, but they are forced to do it through the inmates they appoint. There is a curse and oppression on political inmates,” said a person close to Myingyan Prison.
At present, the drinking water in the prison has a high lead content and insufficient shower water, causing diarrhea, dysentery, ringworm, and scab diseases among all the inmates.
“How high is the level of lead content? When we were in Myingyan Prison, we assembled our own water purifiers, and the stones in the water purifiers turned lead-colored,” said a former political prisoner who was released from Myingyan Prison.
A doctor said that high levels of lead in drinking water can cause brain and kidney damage, which can lead to death.
“Too much lead in drinking water can damage the brain and kidneys. The more lead there is, the worse it is. We can’t even boil water because of the lead. It’s even worse. Because of the lead, the rest of the inmates will get diseases at the same time,” he said.
In addition, Yin Moe, a female political prisoner who was sentenced to 6 years in Myingyan Prison, died on February 4 due to kidney damage while receiving treatment after being transferred to Mandalay Obo Prison in bad health.
In addition to this, it was found out that not only the drinking water in Myingyan prison is not good, but also the food served to the prisoners is also bad.
“They (prisoners) only give prisoners four pieces of curry a week. Even if it’s four pieces of chicken, they usually only feed the throat, bones, feet, and wings. It’s not enough at all. Sometimes there’s a bad smell. Some of them can’t eat. So they have to buy everything from onions to tomatoes, and it’s like they’re in prison at their own expense,” said a person who sent parcels to the prison.
After the military coup, there is oppression of prisoners in various prisons across Myanmar, and political prisoners are holding hunger strikes and demanding their needs.
Among such demands, during the first week of February, the political prisoners in Mon State, Kyimaro Prison, went on a hunger strike with the Prison Department starting on February 6, demanding that they be treated in accordance with human rights, receive health care easily, and that no extrajudicial actions be taken during the investigation and punishment period. Yesterday, on February 10th, the Prisons Department made those concessions, according to the statements of the Political Prisoners Network in Myanmar.
Editor: Ko San
Translator: Zin