For Immediate Release: October 17, 2006

Even though the United Nations and many human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International and the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), has repeatedly urged the Burmese military regime to release Thet Win Aung, a young student activist who has been imprisoned since 1998, on the humanitarian grounds due to his deteriorating health condition, these requests fell on deaf ears.

And, now, it is too late.

Sadly, the AAPP learned yesterday evening that Thet Win Aung passed away on October 16, 2006 at Mandalay prison. The police Special Branch, an intelligence wing of the regime’s Ministry of Home Affairs, informed his parents about his death without giving a reason for the death of this 34-years young man.

The AAPP believes his death was not due to natural causes. We believe that like the other more than one hundred political prisoners who have died in Burma’s prisons, he was systematically killed by the military regime. The reasoning for our belief is as follows:

(1) Thet Win Aung was tortured very brutally during interrogation when he was arrested in October 1998 by Military Intelligence.
(2) After interrogation, a military court sentenced him to an unusually long-term imprisonment of 60 years with hard labor. This unusually long-term imprisonment placed heavy pressure on him and made him depressed and he thus suffered from mental illness.
(3) The authorities transferred him to Kale prison in Sagaing Division, which is over 700 miles away from his family home in the capital, Rangoon. Due to the long travel distance and financial difficulties, his family could not make regular visits to the prison. He could only see his parents once every five or six months, and sometimes it would be more than a year between visits.
(4) At Kale prison, he was contracted malaria, but he did not receive proper medical treatment.
(5) As a result, he further suffered from mental illness.
(6) Even though he was transferred from Kale prison to Mandalay prison in Mandalay Division, he was still denied proper medical treatment. Since then, he was not able to walk by himself.
(7) Mandalay prison is 500 miles away from his family. Therefore, his family could not visit him regularly and they were again unable to provide sufficient medicine and food for him. The prison authorities did not provide enough nutritious food.
(8) No medical specialist or medicines were made available to cure him before his condition worsened.
(9) On October 30, 2006, his elder brother Htay Win Aung (aka) Pyone Cho, one of the key leaders of the 88 Generation Students, was arrested by the regime for second time, despite having served more than a decade behind bars. The news of his brother’s arrest made him more emotional and weak.

Thet Win Aung’s parents are now facing a double tragedy, as they have lost one of their sons in prison, while another is continues to be detained. As colleagues and former political prisoners, we will never forget Thet Win Aung’s leading role in and sacrifices for the non-violent movement for democracy in Burma. We promise that the death of Thet Win Aung will not be in vain.

For more information:

Ko Tate: (+66) 1-287 8751
Ko Bo Kyi: (+66) 1-324 8935