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Dialogue with the Devil
"Comb his hair a bit," ordered the man with the camera.
When I lifted my hand to comb my hair, one of the two men in blue
suits reached over and roughly brushed my hair. The room was quite
big and the four walls were covered with blue curtains. There was
no furniture. They took two photos of me, put the hood over my head
again and took me back to my cell. On the way I gathered my thoughts.
'I am on the side of truth,' I told myself, 'I don't need to worry
about anything.'
The door to my cell was slammed shut and once again I was able
to take off my hood. That was always the most pleasant time for
me and I will never forget that feeling of temporary freedom. "Moe
Aye," said a voice from behind the mirror, "if you want
some food there's meal on the table."
I looked at the table and I saw some rice on an aluminum plate,
some soup in a small aluminum cup and water in an old seven-up can.
These must have been put in my cell while they were taking photos
of me. That was my first meal since I was arrested, but I didn't
know whether it was breakfast, lunch or dinner. "What time
is it?" I asked the mirror.
There was no answer. They did that on purpose. I then checked the
meal carefully. There was some fried watercress on the rice, the
soup had little pieces of gourd and the old seven-up can was half
full of water. I tasted the watercress. 'Oh, shit!' it was extremely
salty. I tasted the soup and it was completely tasteless, just like
boiled water. I drank all the water and then I felt like a smoke.
"Hey, I want a smoke."
"You're not allowed to smoke, the commander has ordered it,"
said a guard behind the mirror. That guard should be commended for
being so bloody obedient! I became more confident of myself and
I asked again, "I want to piss." Again there was no answer.
That's when I remembered what they told me when I was first arrived
here. I knocked three times on the door.
"What do you want?" the guard asked.
"I want to piss."
"Put the hood on."
A few seconds later I was out of my cell and we walked turning
left and right as before. Then I was stopped and asked a question
by someone who seemed to be standing in front of me. "Moe Aye,
didn't you go to Myadaung Monastery in Mandalay at the end of last
month and in the first week of this month?"
"Let me piss first," I said.
"It won't take more than three minutes to answer," he
replied, "if you answer me correctly you can go and piss."
Suddenly I was really angry, but I told myself to calm down. "Yes",
I replied.
"Why did you go there? Which monks did you meet?"
"How could I have met the monks? So many of your soldiers
guard the area and I have no business to meet with any monks. My
responsibility was to the information department and to collect
news, that's all."
"Have you ever met with a monk called Yewata?"2 the officer
asked.
"Never."
"Did you write a report about what's been happening in Mandalay
and send it to someone?" he continued. I didn't want to answer
this question, and I knew that I had to be careful in what I said.
"I really want to piss," I replied.
"After this question you can, alright?"
"I never wrote any report for anyone, except for my NLD township
office, to deliver this repot in Rangoon?"
"Did you ask students from the All Burma Basic Education Students'
Union to deliver this report in Rangoon?"
"Look, I really want to piss, shall I piss here?" I said
angrily.
Someone spoke behind me, "Let him go and piss." Then
I was forced to walk as before, turning left and right many times.
"Step up slowly," someone said. I stepped up two steps.
"Okay, turn left," one of them ordered. "Make sure
you piss directly into the pit, if not, you'll be beaten."
I didn't care what might happen to me and I pissed. I had nearly
finished when a guard shouted, " Mother fucker! You're pissing
everywhere!"
The guard then copped his hand down on the back of my neck. I was
so angry I tried to take the hood off and hit back at him. Then
I heard footsteps. "What's going on here?" someone asked.
They then hit me in the stomach and I noticed that my sarong was
wet with my urine. Now every time I piss, I remember that beating.
I was then forced to walk back again and I was taken to a room.
"Hands up!" came the order.
I put both my hands in the air and my legs were spread wide apart.
Like before, a wooden stick was placed between my feet and my ankles
were in great pain.
"You asked students from the ABBESU to deliver this report,
didn't you?" my interrogator asked me again.
"No, that's not true." if I had said yes they would obviously
ask me for the names of the students.
"Tell me truth, who did you ask to deliver this report?"
"I didn't ask anyone. When I was out of my office, I think
the ABBESU students found the report themselves, made some photocopies
and distributed it."
There was silence for a few minutes. "You're a student, why
did you join a political party instead of joining a student union?"
asked someone whom I hadn't heard before.
I felt a little angry at the question. "But even students
who have only demanded student rights have been arrested. Where
is Min Ko Naing? He's in prison," I said. "The election
was held five months ago but the wining party which was voted in
by the people has been denied power. That's why I joined a political
party."
I suddenly felt light-hearted, even though my back had been kicked
and beaten I couldn't remember how many times. The wooden stick
between my legs was removed and I was taken to another room. When
we got there I heard something rolling over my head.
"Sit down," they ordered, "and stretch out your
legs."
I felt a bit afraid. I was worried about what they would do to
my legs. I sat on the concrete floor for quite a long time. My blood
ran cold when I remembered what I had been told about the MIS Interrogation
Centres, that one form of torture was to roll a piece of rounded
wood over a person's shins. I told myself not to be too scared,
but I was afraid of the torture. Then one of my legs was pulled
up, and I felt terrified. Both my legs were placed on a piece of
hard wood, and I then felt something like another piece of wood
being placed on top and I heard the sound of iron chains. Suddenly
I realized that I had been put in stocks. I tried to move my legs
but I couldn't. Then some hairs on my shin were plucked out. It
was extremely painful and I cried out loud.
"This is very painful, but you guys say you want to save the
country so you must be brave," they mocked.
I was grateful to them because their comment encouraged me to proud
and not to give in or be afraid of anything. I decided that whatever
they did to me, I would never show them that I was scared. It might
be because of this decision that I ended up being in the Interrogation
Centre for two months and three days. I was placed in stocks and
sometimes I wasn't interrogated for days. I didn't know whether
it was night or day and I only had the opportunity to shower twice.
I was fed twice a day and the food was always the same tasteless
soup and fried salty vegetables, though sometimes I found tiny pieces
of fish on my rice. Sometimes I heard the sounds of people being
interrogated like me.
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