General Issues
By Win Naing Oo

9.1 Buddhist Monks
It is estimated that there are nearly 200 Buddhist monks in Insein prison alone. One venerable monk is U Thu Mingala, who won a Buddhist literature title Pitaka Thone Bon (he gained a distinction in all three parts of the Tripitaka, the Buddhist canon). Along with him in Prison, there are 8 other senior monks who also won distinctions in one of the three parts or the whole of the Tripitaka. All of these monks are highly venerated in their respective areas. In Burma, there are only five monks who have gained distinctions in all three parts of the Tripitaka. One of these monks passed away in 1994, leaving only four alive.

According to Buddhist Law, in Buddhist country, if a King has opressed his own people too much, the Buddhist monks can impose some punishment such as not going to the palace or anywhere else when invited by the king, not accepting things offered by the King and not giving the King Buddhist services. This is called Patta Nikujjana Kan in Pali. The main reason for using this Kan is that the King comes to realize how brutally he is oppressing his citizens. It is intended to make him change his habits. The monks in Insein prison participated in a Patta Nikujjana Kan against the Burmese government and were accused of being fake Buddhist monks and were arrested by the military regime. U Thu Mingala and eight other senior monks were sentenced to 8 years in prison and other monks were sentenced to five or ten years in prison.

The monks have asked to wear robes in prison, but the prison authorities took off their robes and now the monks only wear white prison uniforms. In addition, the monks are not referred to by their monk names, only ordinary names. When the prison authorities call them, they do not use the word U, which is a respectful prefix to a name. The monk Meggin Sayadaw is over 70 years old, but the warden calls him, "Hey, Shwe Tha Aye" in a very rude way.

However, all the monks are very patient, but they did not accept their forced and unlawful disrobing. They have been staying in prison in accordance with all the traditional principles of a Buddhist monk they do not eat dinner (Buddhist monks are not allowed to eat after noon) and early morning meals are not provided. This means that they can only eat one meal a day (lunch). No monks in prison are allowed to preach the Buddhist Dharma and the prisoners are also not allowed to Pay obeisance (with palms raised together on the forehead) to monks.

9.2 Prisoners still facing trial
According to the law, a person who is accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Furthermore, no political prisoner can beat a fellow prisoner. If a prisoner has to be beaten up for the crime he commits in prison the officials have to give him this punishment.

Hall no. 1 and hall no. 2 are full of prisoners who are still facing trial, and they number nearly 3,000. According to the law, they should not be treated as criminals. But this is not the case in Insein prison. Every day, they are oppressed and given punishment without justification. They have to suffer beatings, money being extorted, clothes being seized, hard labor, and have to clean excrement in the latrines. There is no possible excuse for such treatment.

They are the ones whose rights are most violated. They always look frightened because of the regular beating and of their morale crushed. Although the prison law allows them the luxury of receiving prison clothes and blankets, they never receive them. If they have good clothes when they are sent to prison, they will be taken away as well, and replaced with old ones. The majority of prisoners are always half naked and sleep without blankets at night. (See also 2.1)

9.3 Public torture
On one occasion, two prisoners quarrelled with each other. The punishment was this: they had to fight each other again continuously. If they refused to do so, they would be beaten by the warders. When they became tired, they had to do press-ups on a 2 foot step, then they were beaten with canes by the warders. However, they could not continue the press-ups in that position and finally, their whole bodies shaking, fell down on the floor. The warders kicked them with military boots because they fell down on the floor. The two prisoners had to do press-ups even though their backs were bloody; they were still beaten. At that time, some other prisoners were nearby, but they were sent away from the scene by warders. I was also near there and when I left that scene, an old warder followed me and asked: "Are you feeling sad about that?" I didn't reply. He continued that "This is a prison, cruelty and injustice are not strange; if you understand that you can calm yourself down." All I could do was just stare at that old warder.

The ideology of warders is that beating the prisoners violently is the best way to prevent quarreling among them. It may work, but it is not in accordance with either human dignity or human rights.

However, this policy of the authorities means that prisoners try never to quarrel among themselves openly, because they know they would be beaten.

There is however a lesson prisoners learn from their experiences while in prison, That is, "if you have a fight with a fellow prisoner, fight him until he is dead so that it will be worth it as you will be severely beaten by prison officials for getting into a fight in the first place." This fact has contributed to many deaths in Burmese prisons.

9.4 Conspiracies In Prisons
There were over 200 political prisoners in hall number 4. They were closer to each other and more united than prisoners in other halls. If a problem occurred between a prisoner and the officials and if they believed that he was right, they all stood together.

Prison officials did not like it because it prevented them from controlling the prisoners completely. They blamed this unity among hall no.4 prisoners on Win Naing Oo. So they decided to bring charges against him.

They started to investigate whether he had violated prison regulations, but he had not. When this failed, they planned to plot against him. This failed again. Finally, they summoned Soe Myat, the most feared criminal in prison. They said to him, "Win Naing Oo lodged a complaint with us about your wrong doings in prison. If we have to take action against you, you are going to be in big trouble. We want you to know this. We don't want to bring any charges against you. We hope that you understand what we are saying. Finish him off." This is the usual method for prison officials to get rid of some one they dislike.

Soe Myat believed what the authorities had said and held a grudge against Win Naing Oo. So he planned to kill him. But the plan was difficult carry out due to some objections from criminals who liked Win Naing Oo. As the whole thing took longer than it should to be carried out authorities called him and said, "We'll be more frank this time. We'll give you the protection. We'll give you special rights."

The conspiracy was somehow leaked and made known to political prisoners. They then began a whispering campaign among the prisoners that prison authorities would be held responsible if something happened to Win Naing Oo, that when it happened, they would not and that they would start a prison riot not only in hall no. 4, but would make it spread throughout whole prison. In fact, the prisoners did not know what the conspiracy was in detail, but as a precaution, they launched the campaign.

Since the campaign was launched, all prisoners had to be extra careful. They also had to organize some criminals. But by the time the news was spread throughout the whole prison, the prison authorities asked Soe Myat to stop it for a while, for fear that their plot be revealed. During this time, an order to transfer 100 prisoners to Thayet prison was issued and Win Naing Oo was listed among those who had to be transferred. That put an end to the conspiracy.

(Details were revealed only when both Win Naing Oo and Soe Myat were put in the same cell block in Thayet Prison and became friends.)

This is one of many common methods used by officials in prisons. Many have already died as a result of these practices. It is an open secret within the prison, but remains unknown to outsiders only because prisoners have no power to inform them.

It is generally understood by prison officials that locking away two criminals who dislike each other in the same cell gives then an opportunity to try to kill each other. This was the very method that gave a well-known hardcore criminal named Nga Shint a chance to crush the skull of another equally notorious criminal known as Mya Khaung with a blunt hoe. The whole prison knew that they had made a deal to behead other. This was also known to prison officials. Despite this, the two were deliberately locked in the same cell.

It is customary in prisons that a prisoner who knows something of the corruption of the officials who has potential to upset their interests killed in some way or another.