Appendix 5

I participated in the 1988 Democracy Uprisings. First, I supported the needs of the demonstrators, and later I myself participated in the demonstrations with the students. When the regime coup occurred on August 18, 1988, they fired on the demonstrators at many places. I was in Theinbyu Street near downtown, and witnessed the shooting of three young students.
After the coup, when political parties and organizations were allowed to be set up, I joined the Patriotic Democratic Youth Front (PDYF).
The various political organizations agreed to gather at the Martyrs’ Graveyard to commemorate the martyrs on Martyrdom Day, July 19, 1989. I also organized my neighbors to participate in this historical event.
On that day, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of the national leader General Aung San, who was a martyr, was not allowed to commemorate martyrs such as her father. We started marching in a file of five people. By-standers applauded the marchers. We requested that the applauding people not applaud because our march to commemorate assassinated martyrs was intended to be a solemn memorial. They agreed and we kept on marching in deep silence. Soon after, we were blocked by troops and ordered to disperse in ten minutes. We refused and were arrested. Many demonstrators, including me, were arrested and sent to Insein prison.

Experiences inside Insein prison
As soon as I was in prison, I was very disappointed. I had no extra clothes and was given only a straw mat in my cell. I was sent to prison with wounds and as soon as I gained consciousness, I was taken out to be interrogated.
I was questioned about the marching. The MI compared my answers to one of my friend’s answers, and they were not the same. They also knew I organized people to participate. Therefore, they said, “Why are you telling lies to us? Stand up at once.” They ordered me to stand from half past eight in the evening to midnight. I was also taken out and questioned the next days and I had to answer the same. They said, “The Martyrdom Day is none of your business, why didn’t you stay inside your home, bitch?” to me to make me angry. Also, I was threatened.
Seven of us were released, but four were left in prison. They were Sanda Min, San San Aye, Kyaw Thaung and I. We were taken out from our cells to the main gate of the prison and to the Military Tribunal 4 by trucks on August 11, 1989. Our trial was a secret one; we did not have a legal chance to get our own lawyers to defend ourselves. Also, our families and friends were not allowed to come. We were asked in the trial to explain what we did. We answered that we had done nothing except go to the Martyrdom Graveyard to commemorate the martyrs.
There was a thug, so-called witness, at the tribunal. Holding a white sheet of paper, he lied, saying, “I am a retired government servant, I myself witnessed these four were rioters.” Then, the military judges said, “We will charge you in accordance with the sayings of the witness, what have you to tell us?” We replied that we were not guilty. But the judges said, “Even you refused, your riotous manners in the demonstration were obvious to the witness.” We were sentenced to three years in prison each on August 11, 1989. We were very discontented because we were not guilty. Having been sentenced, we were taken back to prison at once.

Prison Experiences
When we were taken back to the prison as prisoners, seven female political prisoners, Toe Toe Tin, Mya Aye Win and others, who had been in prison earlier, warmly welcomed us. As soon as we arrived in prison, we were ordered to sit in a prison position, but we refused. Therefore, women wardens swore and pressured us to sit in the prison position. Then, Bo Kyi, the prison superintendent arrived and said, “Anyway, you are now in prison, so you must obey prison regulations.”
We were also assigned to do prison work. They said, “You are political prisoners, but your sentences are 3 years imprisonment with hard labor, so you have to do hard work.” All female political prisoners had to do hard work - we were assigned to a weaving site in prison and also had to clean the floor of our ward.
Later, we said we could not do these unfair jobs any more. They replied that if we did not do them, our prison sentences would not be shortened. But, we no longer did these disgraceful jobs.
The rice we were given was so-called rice, very poor to eat. The meal was also very awful; the boiled vegetables were like water. Also, the fish paste was black and very dirty. I asked a female warden, “What is that soup?” and she answered, “This is the vegetable soup named Tarlapaw.” And again I asked, “What is that black thing, is that chicken shit?” The female warden became very angry and said, “What did you say? This is the fish paste we eat.” I did not eat it though because I couldn’t.
In order to bath, there was a long trough of tepid water from which the prisoners were allowed to draw only minimal amounts of water to use for washing. We were not allowed to have enough water to wash. We had to wash with disease infected ordinary prisoners with leprosies, and scabies, which caused the water to be disease ridden. Therefore, we refused to wash with them. Eventually, the superintendent allowed political prisoners to wash alone.
We had to suffer poor prison food. There were some food difficulties before our family visits.
There was a clinic at the downstairs of our ward. We did not take any medicine from that clinic. There was only Buspro and Paracetamol, and every patient was given these no matter what their ailment was. But prisoners who paid bribes to the authorities could get the necessary pills. We political prisoners were not given anything.
There was a strike inside the prison on September 25, 1990. Five female political prisoners who participated in that strike were transferred to Tharawaddy prison. They were Nhin Nhin Mhwe, Thida Aye, Hla Hla Than, Ohnmar and San San Aye. They were beaten both after the strike and on their way to the new prison.
In the evening of June 5, 1990, we all sang songs together. At that time, there were over 30 female political prisoners in our ward. As far as I remember, some of them were Toe Toe Tin, Pyone Pyone Khin (deceased), Nhin Nhin Mhwe, Thida Aye, Hla Hla Than, San San Aye, Mya Aye Win, Myint Myint Oo, Ohnmar, Thuza, Daw Khin Swe, Baby, Nwe Nwe Mya, Moe Moe from Thonegwa, Myint Myint San, Tin Tin Swe, San Win Khaing and so on. We staged a play. We created fun for ourselves because we were very unhappy in prison. We sang political songs together. After the prison bedtime, 9 in the evening, prison authorities came and ordered us to stop. We had to go to bed.
The next morning, the female wardens gave all the prisoners in that ward two beatings each.
In prison, when we were menstruating, we had to count on our family for the proper materials. There was nothing for us in prison. Even though we informed the wardens of our strain in these times, we were only given one prison sarong each.
In 1991, when my release date was very near, I heard some news that the International Committee of Red Cross, ICRC, was about to open a branch in Burma, and also that Human Rights Watch was about to come to Burma to investigate prison conditions. Because of this, we were given new blankets. Later, the ICRC was not allowed to enter Insein prison and soon after the blankets were taken back.

Released from Hell
I spent two years and three months in Insein prison. I did not know my release date in advance. I was only told on my release date that I had completed my prison term.
I was taken to the lock-up in Barr Street by a police van. I was questioned again thoroughly about my case. Then, I was taken to the Intelligence Office on the fourth floor of that Stewart lock-up in Barr Street. They took my photos and interrogated me again.
Then, policemen from my township station, Mingalataungnyunt Police Station, arrived. My family also did not know about my release in advance. Later, I was taken to the station. Finally, I was brought back home. Three days later, Military Intelligence personnel from my township branch came to my house. He demanded to meet me. When I met him, I was questioned about my case again.
After my release, I suffered damage to my nerves. I had to take medicine, and also had to do exercises with the help of crutches. Many suffered nerve and muscle diseases in prison. Many also suffered lung diseases because when bathing in prison it had been very windy and the bathing place was coverless.
Soon after my release, I worked as a salesgirl in a fabric shop in Mingalar Market. If the owner had known I was a former political prisoner, I would not have been hired. Some relatives and friends did not dare to interact with me. They said, “The MI will come after you anytime, we can’t be arrested because we did nothing, we are so afraid to be arrested, please don’t come to our houses, we don’t want to deal with police or military intelligence.” When my comrades were released in 1992 and 1993, I met with them and we supported our friends still in prison.

Being Arrested for a Second Time
There was an explosion at Kabar Aye pagoda, Rangoon on December 25, 1996. The explosion occurred on the day Gen. Tin Oo went there. Up to now, the MI has not found who did this. Soon after the explosion, many former political prisoners were rearrested. I was also arrested on January 4, 1997. I was released on January 22. As far as I know, 17 former political prisoners were arrested including Nhin Nhin Mhwe, Thet Naing Aung and Ngwe Tun. Nhin Nhin Mhwe and Ye Naing Win were arrested by the Military Intelligence Unit 7, and we were arrested by the Unit 6. Daw Mi, a former political prisoner from Tharkayta Tsp., was arrested with her whole family. Tin Win, from Kamaryut Tsp. (now he is the township chairman of National League for Democracy), was also arrested. Tun Kyi and Thida Aye were not arrested because they managed to escape.
A group of men from MI Unit 6 came to my house pretending to check the guest list. About five men were standing at the door. Then they said, “Come with us for a while.” I refused because I did not know them. My mom also said, “I don’t know all of you, you are not in our quarter.” Then one of them said, “We are from the police station, my name is sergeant Moe Aung.” They took out their IDs when we asked for their IDs. They were in fact MI personnel. When I said, “What happened? What did I do wrong?” they answered, “There’s something we must ask you, please come with us for a while.”
As soon as I was out of my house, I was veiled but not handcuffed. When I was in the car, I realized that Ngwe Tun was also arrested. We were taken to the MI Unit 6 station. I came to know later that my house had been staked out since midday in order to arrest me. I was arrested at midnight. They propagandized to my neighbors that they had arrested me in connection with the explosion.
When I was at the MI Unit 6 interrogation center, they took my picture and sent me into a cell. I was given a small couch and I heard the voices of many men around me. They asked my name, age and other personal facts. When I answered I was Burmese and Muslim, they swore me, “Are you worthy to say ‘I’m Burmese’?” When I was interrogated, I was beaten with rods, and also there were wounds on my legs. I was also slapped. When they were disappointed with my answer, they would say, “Stand up at once, who do you think you are? You think you are very brave, but we know all about you. We will skin you. You are connected with insurgents, aren’t you?” They interrogated me about the explosion using beatings.
They said, “You insulted others’ religion. You gathered to riot, and met with your friends to oppose us. How it is sorrowful that your bomb killed four Union Solidarity and Development Council members?”
I answered, “I’ve never seen even a single bomb.”
One shouted at me, “The person who is interrogating you is your superior, why did you say that?”
I was slapped when I taunted, “I did not know whether he was a superior or not because I was veiled.” I was beaten and tortured like that for 18 days.
On the day I was arrested, from midnight till four in the afternoon, I was not given food or water and was being interrogated all the time.
I was interrogated for six days. On the sixth day, I was ordered to write using both my left and right hands in order for them to have a sample of my handwriting. They warned me that if my handwriting was the same with the suspected one’s, I would be arrested. They did not get any information about the explosion from our answers. I thought a secret link had been traced, and that was why my handwriting was being tested. Later, I came to know that a secret letter written to contact the activists along the Thai-Burma border was found while they were arresting the explosion suspects. Some were not released and instead imprisoned and accused of composing the letter.
After interrogation and tortures, I was put in a cell. I was released and taken back home after the wounds on my legs had disappeared. We were arrested, interrogated and tortured about the explosion even though we did not know anything.

Conditions Before Arriving at the Thai-Burma Border
After my release, I conducted many activities in order to support the political prisoners. Earlier this year, Shein Tin, a political prisoner in Taungoo prison, was taken to the hospital. I went to Taungoo Hospital to support him. I witnessed that he was suffering severely. Soon after, he passed away.
My brother Tin Tun is also a political prisoner. He is serving his 21 years imprisonment. I went to Insein Hospital to see him when he was sent to the hospital this year due to chronic heart disease.
Then, the MI warned me, “You did a lot of things.” Therefore, I was so afraid and fled from Burma. I did not want to be arrested again. I could not bear it anymore.