Punishment in Prison
By Win Naing Oo

The following are the usual punishments in the prison:
1. Cancellation of visiting rights;
2. Beating;
3. Beating and transferal to a new and unfamiliar cell block;
4. Solitary confinement.

4.1 Solitary confinement
A 1.5-2 foot long iron rod is placed horizontally between the shackled legs of prisoners, forcing them to stand permanently with legs astride.

There are no blankets or mats; prisoners have to sleep on the bare concrete floor. They are locked in a tiny cell during this period and have no chance to wash.

Normally, small chamber pots and urine pots are put in each tiny cell. These pots are not emptied, so the cell gets wet, becomes very dirty and smells offensively after a while. Nobody wants to be put in these cells because of the bad smell. Food is slid in from the outside of the cell through the iron bars. Every day, the prisoner is taken out of the cell, forced to stand in position number 4, and beaten. The period of solitary confinement usually lasts for at least one month, and may last up to three months.

The worst type of solitary confinement is when a prisoner has to stand with both arms tied above the head. The prisoner has to defecate and urinate while standing. The authorities feed them no rice but give them only glue made from rice.

4.2 Types of beating
The following are the usual types of beating:

1. The prisoner has to stand and embrace a post and is beaten while both hands are held firmly by another person;
2. The prisoner is beaten while lying prone on the ground
3. The prisoner, both legs chained, is made to stand in standard position no. 4 and is beaten
4. The prisoner is beaten while being forced to crawl along the ground
5. Prisoners are shackled and a long iron bar is placed so that their legs are splayed. They are then forced to crawl along the ground and are beaten
6. Prisoners are forced to do squat-jumps (like in the game of leap-frog) and are beaten while doing so.

When the authorities beat the prisoners, they do not avoid any part of the body, whether it is the face or chest or back. They routinely kick the chest, abdomen, face and back with military boots. They also jump on the backs of the prisoners who are crawling along the ground.

4.3 Implements used for beating prisoners
The following are the usual implements used for beating prisoners:

1. Leather-coated pipe
2. Wooden stick
3. Stick made from three interlaced pieces of cane
4. Solid bamboo stick about 3-4 ft in length
5. Hard plastic water pipe

Prison authorities never beat the prisoners in accordance with the jail principles. They over-beat the prisoners very brutally. Because of this, prisoners are often seriously wounded and suffer internal bleeding, fractured skulls, broken bones and internal injuries. They always abuse prisoners in a way designed to violate their human dignity.

For example: If they ask "Are you afraid?" the prisoner has to "I am afraid of you, shint". Shint is a Burmese suffix used for politeness by female speakers; it is never used by male speakers. Then, the officer asks: "What is your name?" and the prisoner has to reply "My name is Ma Saw Maung (or whatever their name is), shint." Ma is prefixed to the names of younger women; it is also never used by men.

Making the prisoners use these female terms is designed to degrade them. Some prisoners refuse to talk to the officers in this way, like a woman. In this case they are beaten continuously until they comply. Some prisoners are beaten again when they recover consciousness. Finally, some prisoners can no longer stand the suffering and knock themselves unconscious on the stone wall. When prisoners get fractured skulls or severe bleeding, they are finally sent to hospital.

However, once in the hospital the prisoners still do not receive systematic medical attention. If they moan because of pain, they are beaten again and accused of being noisy. Because of such severe and systematic torture, some prisoners suffer gangrene and some have sustained total paralysis for example, Zarni (a member of NLD) and Kyaw Thu (well known for his bravery). The prison officers were not charged in these cases, but were protected by the prison authorities.