Date: March 5, 2004

We, the AAPP, have been monitoring the political prisoners in Burma and have been issuing media releases, statements, and reports. Now we see that the political prisoners' health is deteriorating with each passing day.

Our personal experiences and analysis of current conditions point to the following causes:
(1) Arbitrary arrest, long time imprisonment, and prolonged imprisonment after finishing original sentences
(2) Brutal torture both at the interrogation centers and prisons
(3) No proper treatment and inadequate medicine
(4) Insufficient numbers of skilled medical staff given the large prison populations
(5) Military intelligence personnel control over health matters of political prisoners
(6) Doctors are brought in occasionally for serious cases, and photos are taken to give the impression to the international community that such treatment is standard
(7) Food does not meet minimum daily nutritional requirements

Common diseases in prisons include heart attack, hypertension, Anemia, Diabetes, gastric ulcers, piles, diarrhea, depression, stroke, skin infections, Malaria, impairment of vision, Amoebic Hepatitis, dysentery, and HIV/AIDS. Some prisoners have lost their lives in prisons due to the inhumane conditions and resulting diseases. There are currently at least 51 political prisoners suffering from serious illnesses.

If the conditions do not improve, the health of over 1600 political prisoners will continue to decline.

Htay Kywe, a prominent student leader arrested in 1991 and given 15 years imprisonment, was suffering from abdominal pain on February 24, 2004 and underwent emergency surgery at Tharawaddy Hospital for what the doctors thought was for a routine appendectomy. During the operation, the anesthesiologist injected more aesthesis than needed, and he became unconscious and foamed at his mouth until the next day. Lack of electricity, operation materials, medicine and other basic tools in the hospital worsened Htay Kywe's operations. He suffered from extreme pains. When his family learned of his condition, they requested that he be transferred to Rangoon, capital of Burma, where there are better facilities. Their repeated requests were finally successful and he currently resides in the intensive care unit at Insein General Hospital, on the outskirts of Rangoon.

The above case illustrates how the aforementioned seven points affect political prisoners. Even though his original imprisonment was 15 years, because of the order of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) in 1993, his imprisonment was reduced to 10 years. However, after he served his sentence, the authorities failed to release him and extended his sentence under another section of the law, Section 10(A), called State Protection Act (1975). There are at least 27 political prisoners who are under section 10(A). The Special Rapporteur to UNCHR, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, repeatedly requested the junta release immediately and unconditionally those "10(A)" political prisoners, but the junta still detains them illegally and arbitrarily in prisons.

The junta keeps these political prisoners hostage in order tighten their grip on state control. The junta sees these prisoners not as human beings but enemies in their struggle to stay in power. Because the junta's health is inversely proportional to the health of its political prisoners, policy and practice works towards the continued suffering of political prisoners and slow destruction of their physical and mental health.

If the junta wants genuine peace and democratic government in Burma, the junta must release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners immediately and unconditionally, per the repeated requests of the Burmese citizens and the international community, including the UN.

We will continue to work towards the immediate release of political prisoners.

The junta must bear sole responsibility for the constant human rights violations in their prisons.

Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma)