July 13, 2001

Name: Sithu (a.k.a.) Ye Naing
Father: Tin Hla, Retired Captain (Army)
Occupation; 2nd year student (Botany), Rangoon University
Age: 35
Arrested: 1990 January
Sentence: 10 Years
Section: 5J, 17/1, 10A
Address: Sanchaung Township, Rangoon

Sithu (a.k.a.) Ye Naing, a student activist, passed away of lung cancer yesterday in Tharawaddy prison after 11 years in prison. He was arrested in 1990 and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. His prison term ended in 1999 but the authorities refused to release him.

As a result of torture early on in his detention and inappropriate accommodation in prison, he became ill. He was suffering not only from lung disease but also stomach and heart problems. His health condition deteriorated after he was moved from Insein Prison to Tharawaddy Prison in 1993. The authorities did not provide him with suitable treatment for his condition. Eleven days before his death, he was moved to Tharawaddy Township Hospital, which did not have adequate medical facilities to treat him. The doctors in that hospital recommended moving him to Rangoon General Hospital for better treatment but he was sent back to Tharawaddy Prison instead. The Military Intelligence personnel who arrested him have total control the health care system as it relates to political prisoners.

Twice, in 1999, the family of Sithu was informed that he would be released shortly. Both times his family members hired a car and invited a local police officer to go with them to pick him up. Both times they were told by the prison authorities that he could not be released because they didn't have authorization from Military Intelligence. He was arrested with a fellow activist, Htay Kywe, and both continued to be detained after their prison terms expired in 1999.

Sithu was the 53rd political prisoner to die in prison since 1988 according to the records of AAPP. Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma)