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Dialogue with the Devil
This appeared in the ABSDF publication 'Tortured Voices: Personal
Accounts of Burma's Interroagting Centres'(July 1988)
On November 7, 1990, I went over to Myint Thu's apartment on 38th
Street, Kyauktada Township, Rangoon, to sleep the night. Myint Thu
was my classmate at the Rangoon Institute of Technology and finished
his engineering degree. He had set up his own television and radio
repair shop and he would sometimes help me with food, clothing and
a place to stay. When I arrived at Myint Thu's apartment, there
was an elderly woman and a girl about 16 years old from up-country
staying there.
"I think I should sleep outside tonight," I told Myint
Thu. "I can see you have other guests here."
"Don't worry," he replied, "they're my aunt and
niece. They've never been to Rangoon and they want to see me. They'll
sleep in the attic."
I took a shower and lay in my friend's bed reading the book Thebaik
Hmauk Kyaing Tha, 'The Student Boycotts', written by Thein Pe Myint.
Myint Thu came into the room around 10pm and we discussed the current
political situation. We were still talking at midnight when we heard
someone knocking on the front door. "We want to check the guest
list!" someone shouted.
Both of us looked at each other. We instantly knew it was the notorious
MIS at the front door and I sensed that the time that I had always
dreaded had finally come. Suddenly, I turned to Myint Thu. "You
only know me as an ordinary classmate," I said. "You don't
know anything else about me."
I was really worried about my friend who, even though he had his
own business, also helped people like me and therefore faced the
possibility of being arrested by MIS. Myint Thu stared at me for
few seconds and went to the front door. His aunt and niece were
also woken up by the noise and we all watched Myint Thu as he moved
toward the door. When he opened the door a man wearing a blue jacket
and a blur Arakanese sarong pointed a pistol at Myint Thu, while
a military corporal in uniform entered the apartment armed with
a rifle.
"Where is Moe Aye?" the man in the blue jacket asked
Myint Thu. "I want to see him."
"What's going on here?" Myint Thu replied.
The man in the blue jacket shouted back, "Tell me what I asked
you!" More people then entered the room. Two military intelligence
officers in plain clothes and three in uniform came in holding G4
assault rifles.
"It's me, I'm Moe Aye," I interrupted.
"Handcuff this mother fucker!" I asked. "I haven't
committed any crime."
"Shut up! Do you want to die?" shouted one of the plain-clothed
officers.
Two soldiers holding G4 assault rifles then came over to me and
one of them twisted my arms behind my back and handcuffed me. I
heard low sobbing coming from the attic and then some noises in
the bedroom that sounded as though the soldiers had found something
incriminating. I turned and looked at my friend Myint Thu. I could
clearly see sorrow and bitterness in his eyes. One of the plain-clothed
men seemed to be the leader of the group and I later discovered
that he was Captain Kyaw Zin Thet from Military Intelligence Unit
7. He sat down in a chair in the living room.
"Put a hood over his head," the captain ordered the three
soldiers still in the room.
A soldier holding a rifle then placed a military green-coloured
hood over my head. I could still hear their voices but I couldn't
see anything. I could also hear the noise of military boots going
up to the attic and Myint Thu's aunt crying. I was hoping that my
friend Myint Thu wouldn't be arrested. If he were arrested, his
aunt and niece, who had never been to Rangoon before, would be in
trouble. Then I heard Myint Thu's aunt weeping louder and louder.
"Please don't do anything to my friend," I pleaded. "He's
an ordinary businessman. He's not a political activist."
"Shut up," said an MIS officer. Whack! My cheek was smashed
with a rifle butt.
Myint Thu's aunt was crying and pleading with the officer, "Please
sir! My nephew is just a businessman. If he's guilty of something
please tells me."
I was then pushed out of the apartment by one of the soldiers and
put into the back of a truck. I noticed that someone was sitting
beside me in the vehicle. After that I heard some noises, which
sounded like someone, was being forced into the truck and I thought
it was my friend Myint Thu. Then we drove off and I didn't want
to think how much Myint Thu's aunt and niece would be suffering.
"Myint Thu, are you also in the truck?" I asked.
"You son of the bitch! Shut your fucking mouth!" someone
shouted.
After driving for about 15 minutes the vehicle stopped. Someone
ordered me to stand up in the truck and bow my head. They grabbed
my shoulders and I was slowly pushed along. After taking five steps
I was pushed out of the truck and felt my heart miss a beat as I
fell on the hard ground. Someone pulled me up by my shoulders and
shouted "Stand up!" They then pushed me in the back to
make me start walking. I walked for about ten minutes, turning left
and right many times, and was forced to bow my head again. I stopped
when I hit a wall and my handcuffs were then removed, but I still
had the hood over my head.
"Stand against the wall and hold your hands up!" came
the order.
The officers searched my clothes and my body. My sarong was also
taken off. When they were satisfied with their search, I got my
sarong back. One of them then twisted my hand and then told me to
walk slowly. I had to bow my head many times and I walked like a
blind man. The hood had been on my head for a few hours now and
I felt like I could hardly breathe. I told them I was suffocating
but they didn't answer. Instead they hit me violently across the
head. After a few minutes walk I was taken into a room.
"When you hear someone knocking on the door," I was told
by an MIS guard, "put the hood on your head. If you want to
go to the toilet, knock on the door three times."
The door to my cell then slammed shut. I kept quiet for a while
and gave my hands a shake now that they were free of the handcuffs.
I then took off the hood. The cell was about six feet by eight feet
and the ceiling was quite high. There was one four-foot neon light
on the ceiling and a two-foot neon light on the wall next to the
door. There was also a big five-foot-long mirror beside the door,
a small table and an ugly ten-inch-high wooden bed. I was sure this
was one of the notorious MIS Interrogation Centers that I had been
hearing about for such a long time. I sat on the bed and looked
into the mirror while combing my hair back with my hand. Suddenly,
I heard a voice from the mirror. "Moe Aye what are you doing?"
I then realized that this was probably a one-way mirror. I didn't
reply to the question, but instead sat down on the bed and tried
to gather my thoughts. I wondered what kind of questions they could
ask me and how I could best answer them in terms of the safety of
my friend Myint Thu. A guard then knocked on the door four or five
times. I didn't move and I tried to calm myself down. The khaki
hood was lying beside me on the bed. Then I heard an angry voice.
"Don't you know to put the hood over your head when you hear
knocking on the door?"
I didn't move.
"Can you hear me mother fucker?"
Finally, two MIS soldiers in plain clothes and military boots opened
the door and ran to me. They covered my head with the khaki hood
and kicked me six or seven times in terms of the safety of my friend
Myint Thu. A guard then knocked on the door four or five times.
I didn't move and I tried to calm myself down. The khaki hood was
lying beside me on the bed. Then I heard an angry voice. "Don't
you know to put the hood over your head when you hear knocking on
the door?"
I didn't move.
"Can you hear me mother fucker?"
Finally, two MIS soldiers in plain clothes and military boots opened
the door and ran to me. They covered my head with the khaki hood
and kicked me six or seven times in my abdomen and on my shins.
"Remember mother fucker, next time I'll beat you more than
that," One of them said.
I was dragged out of the cell between two soldiers. We walked for
two minutes turning left and right many times and then we stopped.
The two soldiers had stepped away from me, for I could feel that
both my hands were free. When I tried to step forward something
like a wooden stick pressed into my stomach, and so I stepped back
again. I couldn't hear anything. Everything was very quiet. I thought
I was in big room and sensed that the MIS soldiers were watching
me. I felt downhearted and angry, but more courageous than before.
My shin, which had been kicked five minutes ago, suddenly became
very painful. I tried to bend down to massage my shin when suddenly
I heard a very loud voice that seemed to come through a microphone.
"Hey you!" I didn't know where the voice was coming from.
My whole body was bathed in sweat, I felt suffocated, my leg was
in pain and I was feeling very dizzy, as though my upper body was
circling like a fan. "SALUTE!!" someone bellowed, and
I heard the sound of soldiers standing to attention with their guns.
I guessed that one of the MIS officers had entered the room. Then
I heard some footsteps and the sound of tables and chairs being
moved. However, I wasn't able to judge whether they were in front
of me or behind me. My palate became dry and my whole body was chilled
from sweating too much. Ten minutes later, the MIS officer spoke
in a slow and heavy voice.
"Rangoon is a big city with many people. Do you know why we
have selected you, you mother fucker Moe Aye?" while he was
speaking I heard a few people move closer to me and I realized that
the interrogation had begun. I told myself not to panic and I simply
replied, "yes, I know."
"Okay then, if you know, you should answer our questions correctly.
If you try to tell lies, you will not get out of here. That's what
you need to understand."
"I have been brought here because I spoke the truth,"
I told him. "I have no lies to tell."
"Mother fucker, we brought you here because you disturbed
and destroyed the stability of the state. Hands up!"
Suddenly a soldier came behind me and pulled up my hands. "Spread
your legs," the soldier ordered. Both my hands were raised
and both my legs were spread. Two bamboo or wooden sticks were then
placed between my feet so my legs would stay apart. I could feel
the sticks touching my ankles. The MIS officer who had spoken before
continued. " What did you do in 1988?' He was obviously referring
to what I did during the 1988 pro-democracy uprising.
"Nothing strange, I did what the people did."
" No! I am asking you which organization you joined at the
time and what you did in pushing the country into an abyss!"
" We never pushed the country into an abyss," I replied.
" We did the right thing for the country."
"Do you guys understand politics? You students are exploited
by opportunist politicians, don't you know that? Tell me which organization
you joined in 1988."
"Throughout our history, students have always been at the
forefront of politics. Nobody coaxed me into politics. I joined
the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABSFSU) and is serving
a 20-year jail term. "But for the others," I continued,
"I can't remember their names because I haven't seen them since
I joined the National League for Democracy which was a year ago."
Both of my arms had been up in the air for a long time and were
getting very tired. I tried to lower my arms a few inches but a
soldier beat my left arm three or four times.
"Keep your hands up!" one of the soldiers said.
The officer continued, "Did you know that Min Ko Naing has
been manipulated by the Communist Party of Burma?"
"I know the mass of the students stand behind him," I
said, taking a risk.
"This guy seems to be stubborn," said the officer slowly
and heavily.
Just then both my ankles were stabbed with something sharp and
the room became very quiet. I felt as if I were alone in the room.
I tried to spread my legs a bit more to shake the stick between
my feet and I heard the sound of something like a wooden stick drop
onto the concrete floor. Then I heard footsteps coming towards me
and someone hit me across the head. They continued to hit me about
the head and I lost count of how many times I was struck. The stick
was once again placed between my legs and someone told me not to
move.
I was thirsty, my lips were dry, my legs were in pain and my arms,
which had been up for a long time, were very tired. I can't explain
how much I was suffering at that moment. I shivered and shook, and
I wondered what had happened to my fried Myint Thu. They asked me
about my personal details. I couldn't remember how many questions
they asked nor how many hours passed. My mouth had become so dry
I could hardly speak any more. "I can't be patient," I
shouted. "I want to drink some water. I want to sit down."
I heard my interrogators laughing. "Democracy is expensive,
isn't it?" said the officer whose voice was slow and heavy.
"Give him some water," he ordered. "Give him some
water," he ordered.
Then I heard a sound like someone saluting him and I thought the
officer had probably left the room. Someone took away the stick
from between my feet and the soldiers allowed me to lower both my
arms. My khaki hood was then lifted to my nose and a cup was brought
to my lips. I held the cup with both hands and began drinking crazily.
But the cup was empty. I felt so angry and humiliated, but I couldn't
speak or move. "You must go back to your room," one of
the officers said.
I was carried by two soldier's back to my cell and the door was
slammed shut. Everything was quiet again. I stood in front of the
mirror and looked at myself. My face looked haggard and sunken like
I hadn't slept for a week. My lips were completely dry and my nose
was stained with blood. My head was also pounding like a huge hammer.
I noticed that my left arm was painful and the skin on both my ankles
was flayed and bleeding. "Moe Aye, if you want a drink there's
some water on the table," said a voce from outside.
I turned and looked at the table and there was an old Seven-up
can. I picked up the can but it was only one-third full of water.
I drank it all in a second, and didn't check whether the water was
clean or not. Although it wasn't much to drink, I felt mildly satisfied
and lay down on the wooden bed. However the bed was extremely uncomfortable.
The wooden base was terribly rough and uneven, and the bed was too
short for me and both of my legs dangled over the end and touched
the concrete floor.
So I sat down on the bed and leaned against the wall. I didn't
know what time it was. It was very quiet, I couldn't hear anything.
Sometimes I could faintly hear telephones ringing and the sound
of someone taking a shower. At the same time I didn't dare think
about my friend Myint Thu and what may have happened to him. I fell
asleep for a while and woke up when I heard someone knocking on
the door. I immediately put the khaki hood over my head and sat
waiting in silence. Two MIS soldiers came in and pushed me out of
my cell. I was frightened because I knew what I would pushed me
out of my cell. I was frightened because I knew what I would have
to face. I felt like someone who had lost all hope. My whole body
was numb.
I was forced to face a wall and my khaki hood was taken off. Initially
I couldn't see anything except the colour blue, and a few minutes
later I realized that a soldier in military uniform was shining
an electric light directly in my face. Beside me, I saw two large
men in blue sports suits. Another man was in military pants but
his upper body was naked and he was aiming a camera at me.
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