Appendix 7

IInterview with Dr. Khin Mar Kyi [Part I]

(2002 Nov 5)

(Translated by DVB)

Could you tell us when and how you were released?

They arrested me in June 1996. They said that they needed to search for something. What they found were mainly Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's book 'Freedom from Fear' and another book 'From Dictatorship to Democracy'. So they told me that they needed to question me about those two books and they needed to ask me other questions and they took me away. I haven't been home since they took me away. They released me on 29 October 2002.

What did they charge you with?

They charged me according to the Distributing Pamphlet Act. But when they actually tried me there was no evidence supporting the charges. But they charged me with Act 5-J.

What we know is that these two books are legally published internationally. Aren't they?

I don't know how to explain how they tried us. We were not tried in a proper court. There is a building in prison. They took us to this building and they just had a judge there to convict us. And they kept a lawyer. They also summoned a typist boy with a car. And they summoned us, the accused, to be seated. The military intelligence [MI] agents sat opposite the lawyers. They created a semblance of a court and tried us inside Mandalay Prison in a building called Administration.

Didn't you have the right to meet people in prison and to hire a lawyer?

Until I was sentenced, I had no permission to see my family. My family members didn't know where I was and where I was taken. They were very anxious and felt miserable. They did allow me to hire a lawyer. In my opinion, it was no court; it was only a prison building, so I didn't think that hiring a lawyer would improve my situation. I would have had to go through my family to hire a lawyer. I was kept inside a cell and it was impossible to hire a lawyer.

Could you tell us about the feelings of and conditions for women political prisoners?

After arresting me, during the time they interrogated us, they said that it was to find out the truth, they tried to make us feel uncomfortable. They did not hurt us physically. But I heard the tortured noises from a male prisoner at night. After the interrogation, they sent us to Mandalay Prison as prisoners on 13 June. We were put in solitary confinement until the middle of August before I was released. We were kept like that for five consecutive nights. I was put in solitary confinement for the initial year. Later I was not on my own. Some times, there were two or three people. It was not intentionally planned like that, but it happened because of lack of space due to the increasing number of prisoners.

As a doctor, you had never been sent to prison before you were sent to prison in solitary confinement. Could you tell us how you felt at that time?

First, I felt I was locked up like an animal. I wanted to see the outside world. I only saw light through the slit between two wooden planks. They would only open the door when they wanted to feed me. They only gave us foods that were inedible and unpalatable. I suffered a lot. I felt like an animal being locked up.

Could you tell us what your health was like and how you coped with sanitary matters during your long solitary confinement?

Yes. Initially, I started to be aware of myself after two years inside. As I rarely talked to people, I wanted to talk. I kept everything I wanted to say inside my brain. But words wouldn't come out when I wanted to talk. Then, I thought, am I deteriorating because of my age? Or because of my lack of conversations with other people? I started to assess myself. I have lost words and been a bit mute for a long time.

How did you pass your long lonesome prison days?

Initially, I was choked with mortification and anger at myself. There was no bed in the cell. I had to sleep on a worn bamboo mat on the concrete floor. The room faced north and in the cold season, it was very cold. My bones were aching and I could not sleep. As I couldn't sleep, I just did light physical exercises. I couldn't sleep during the whole cold season of 96. I tried my best to keep my spirits high. If and when released, I have many things to do, so I did my best to maintain my health. You want to know our difficulties and asked me. If I say more it will be too painful, so let me just say this much for now.

Interview with Dr. Khin Mar Kyi [Part II]

DVB (2002 Nov 7)

Inside the cell, there is no mat. No pillow and very cold also. How did they look after your health?

Before ICRC came to see us, if something happened to us and the doctors rarely came. They tended to give us medicines through nurses or other women prisoners. They gave us medicines such as Ox tetra, Paracetamol, Bamiton, which are no more in use these days. Whatever happened, they gave us these medicines. We had to look after our health and survive on these medicines. I also did exercises. I re-energized and recharged myself. They did nothing to care for us fully. After the ICRC came to see us things started to improve bit by bit.

As a doctor, they gave you the wrong medicines. How did you feel about it?

As they didn't treat us like a human beings they treated us with the attitude that they could give us any kind of medicine so later on I didn't inform them of my condition. I did exercise on my own. I meditate to ward off my sufferings and miseries.

As a doctor political prisoner, how do you see the health care of the authority?

I don't understand whether the government authorities have any policies or actions. I often wondered whether the people who were in charge of prisoners' health regard saw us prisoners as human beings or not. I often thought how hard their hearts would be. I often thought about it. You must understand if I say this much.

The conditions in prison improved after the ICRC came. Isn't it? There are some improvements after Mr. Pinheiro of UN came to meet prisoners they said. How do you see on the improvements? How far have things improved?

When they were about to see us, [boiled] rice became whiter. The curry became more palatable. When they went away, things returned to normal. Sometimes, the rice they fed us was so stale that it smelled of pig's shit and I had to eat it with my nostrils blocked and my face averted. After the ICRC arrived, the foul-smelling rice was not fed to us anymore. Before, they cooked the whole plant of watercress with leaves, stems and roots all chopped up. I don't know how long they cooked it, the whole thing was like pig's food; mashed. It stank. It was unpalatable. After the arrival of ICRC, watercress was not cooked to the point of disintegration. If you pick carefully, you could eat it. Things improved. That's on the food front. Later we were allowed to read. I got religious books published by Religious Ministry from my family when they came to see me. When books arrived they checked them. Some books sent by my family had to wait six to seven months before they reached me. Now that I was allowed to read and compared to the previous occasions things were much better and I was very happy. About medical treatments, before doctors didn't come to see us. Now, they came to see us sporadically. They took blood pressure. By the way, they only took your blood pressures and weigh you only if you are a member of the NLD. So a non-member like me, they didn't weigh me.

What we thought was most of the people who were arrested and [imprisoned] are mostly party members.

Among the people who were arrested, there were more non-party members than party members. But if you look at the present number of people like us who were imprisoned in Oh Pho Prison, there would be two party members out of ten prisoners. When the ICRC arrived, they also weighed us non-party members and things started to improve. When medication time came, they would give us medicines whenever the ICRC donated and left behind medicines. When they ran out of medicines, they would give us ox tetra again like before. They started to use disposable syringes. But we didn't get the permission to walk. We told ICRC that we wanted to walk. They didn't give us the permission. We were allowed to walk only during last August.

Political prisoners like you were allowed to see the ICRC freely. Weren't you?

Yes. We were allowed to. When we met them no staffs were allowed to be near us. We could talk frankly. But they also told us the assessments of the ICRC. The conditions in Mandalay Prison are the worst in Burma for women prisoners.

You were allowed to read books. Only religious ones? Or could you read other news like the meetings between the NLD and the SPDC?

We were allowed to read only religious books. Even these, you could only read them only when they had checked them. If we wanted to know we had to ask our family members came to see us. They also told us not to talk about politics. If we did they would threaten us with cancellation of meetings. If we talked more than that we were also threatened with extension of punishments. So we didn't manage to ask that kind of thing. I was very angry of the facts that I could not meet people and could not read books in the cell.

Interview with Dr. Khin Mar Kyi [Part III]

Eventually truth will prevail

DVB (2002 Nov 5)
Now that you are released, what are your plans for the future?

As for the moment, I am recuperating and rebuilding my health. I have to take walking exercises and do cycling, as there are signs of weakness of my nerves. When I have more time, I will reopen my clinic. I have two daughters; I have to resume my motherly duties. After considering all these factors, I have to do things that I should be doing.

What happened to your family while you were in prison? Could you tell us how you felt?

It's a very bitter experience. When they arrested me, my parents were quite old. They were not at the age to do things. You have to say that they are un-dependable semi-disabled. My oldest daughter had just passed her high school exams. The 10-year-old younger daughter had just passed her fifth standard. I was feeling like a mad woman surrounded by a ring of fire. I was worried about my parents and my daughters I could not describe my feelings.

Your younger daughter was only ten. Could she come to see you in prison?

Yes, she could. At the beginning, my two daughters and my mother- they all came to see me in the same week. My younger daughter, as soon as she saw me she wailed helplessly. She was still sharing bed with me. Of course, she would cry. As soon as I saw my daughter I felt very bad. But as a mother, I didn't want to shed tears in front of them and I told her that I didn't go to prison because I did bad things. Don't be sad. Be proud of me. I didn't do anything bad and don't cry. The most important thing is when I am not there; you have to study hard and the like. We could only see one another for 15 minutes. 5 minutes to give things to me. 10 minutes to talk. 15 minutes in all. I had to coax her like that and send her away. In front of the children, I held back my emotion so as not to make them feel bad. After the meeting, when I had to go back into the cell, I put my things down and I had to suffer a lot. All mothers will understand what I felt. How much I suffered that's what I can't express. I feel it all in my heart. I have to say that, I don't want to talk about it.

As the mother was in prison on political case, were the children's educational and other social aspects damaged?

Yes, they were. As the youngest daughter was only ten, she should have been under parental control. She was not near her mother. My parents were old. So, the child needed close guidance on educational matters. But there was none. My husband could not stay at home all the time. He had to find money to see me in prison. He had to find money to send my two daughters to the school. So, he could not afford to stay at home. So, the younger daughter suffered a lot. On the one hand, she didn't have a chance to enjoy her mother's love and on the other, she didn't get educational support. She only came to see me once and she suffered a lot I couldn't bear to see her like that. Therefore, I told my husband next time, don't bring her along. She suffered a lot after seeing me for only ten minutes. When she goes home her old sufferings will be renewed. So, I don't want to see her. Only when she insisted on seeing me, I allowed him to bring her. I don't want to see my daughter cry because of her mother. I suffer a lot. That's the reason why. In fact, I not only want to see her, I always want to hold her in my bosom.

As a female political prisoner you have gone through the long journey your main strength….

The main strength is spiritual strength. I don't do anything wrong. I am right. I work for the majority. I do it so that all people will have human rights. What I do is not wrong this spirit always leads me. All Burmese citizens must enjoy human rights fully. But it's true that I am very happy. But, as my wings were clipped, I am not able to fly like my happiness. So, I am not able to enjoy the ultimate happiness yet.

Yes. Now that you are free, what do you want to say to the families of political prisoners who are still languishing in prisons?

Truth will prevail eventually. It is not so because I comfort them thus. They also have this kind of feeling themselves. All political prisoners have similar feelings. I just want to comfort you again. It's true that they released me. But there are more prisoners remaining inside prisons. For example, I am eating something. They are still unable to eat what I am eating I always keep this kind of thought. I can sleep with a mosquito net and a pillow. They are still unable to sleep like me I always keep this kind of thought. Whenever I think like that I feel very sad. When it comes to this, I am not happy yet. Another thing, even if all prisoners are released they will feel like their wings clipped. We might be free. Then, there is the question of how we are going to fly to the faraway, peaceful world with full human rights.