No Escape

by Phone Myint Tun

I remember it was the night of January 14, 1991, the day the US-led allies sent an ultimatum to Iraq. I had watched Burmese television showing satellite pictures of Iraq launching scud missiles into Israel at a friend's house on Barr Street. The curfew in Rangoon was still in force, although it now didn't begin until 11 pm. knowing too well the penalty one could receive for violating this law, I returned home. On the sidewalk outside a house I saw a few people playing guitar. I knew some of them so I decided to join them for a few minutes for a song. That night I remember I sang Htoo Ein Thin's 'My Mother's House'.
When I walked into the lane where I lived with my parents, I saw a man near our home. I could see him clearly under the streetlight. The street was deserted although the curfew was still two hours away. The stranger was sitting on a concrete platform by the roadside and he was carrying a school shoulder bag, which was not unusual for a Burmese. I had never seen him before and with him on my mind, I entered my home. I had my supper, said good night to my parents and my niece, and went to bed. While falling asleep the stranger on the pavement lingered in my mind. The sound of car engines woke me up. I guessed it might have been past midnight. The noise of the engines was so loud that it would have woken up the whole neighborhood. Ours is usually a quiet street.
Suddenly I heard someone knocking quickly on the front door accompanied by shout. 'Open up! We want to check the guest list! 1'
I heard my father open the door and invite them in. 'Where are the ward officials?' asked my father, who was expecting to see members of the local Law and Order Restoration Council (LORC).
'We're from the Military Intelligence Service,' one of them told my father. 'I'm captain Thein Zaw Myint. Is Phone Myint Tun in?' asked the captain who was average height but slightly overweight.
'Yes. What brings you here?' my father replied.
'We want to ask a few questions about a friend of his.'
I came down from the attic where I slept. 'I'm Phone Myint Tun,' I said. "Why are you here?'
'We want to ask you a few questions. We'll send you home afterwards,' the captain said.' And bring a jumper,' he added.
In that instant I knew that something had gone seriously wrong. I took the jumper that my father handed to me and told him not to worry.
We walked out of the house and to my amazement one of them turned to me and said, 'you're fucking talkative! We'll see how talkative you are when we get there!'
I saw a TE-11 military truck and a military pick-up truck parked near our house. Before I could say anything I was blindfolded and I felt something like the barrel of a gun being prodded into my back. I was then forced into one of the trucks.
The whole incident took only a few minutes but, as I had guessed, the commotion had woken our neighbors. I gathered that people from the neighboring houses must have been watching us for I heard the captain shouting at them, 'Get back into your houses! This is none of your fucking business!'
Once in the truck, I sensed that there were about four or five other people there.
'You must not talk among yourselves. Is that clear?' ordered the captain.
'Yes,' we all replied.
I later learned that my fellow passengers were Aung Kyaw Myint, Phyo Min Thein (a.k.a. Ko Phyo), Saw Sanda Nwe and Than Than Htay. What felt like half an hour later, the truck stopped and we were ordered to get out. However, we couldn't see anything since we were all still blindfolded and we had to grope about to find our way.
'Why the fuck are you walking like blind people?' someone shouted.
We were then beaten for the first time and I could hear the cries of my fellow detainees. Shortly afterwards we were taken to a building. We were told to jump over something, bend down as if avoiding something overhead, and to walk on all fours. I gathered that we were being told to do these things so we couldn't retrace our steps. This was followed by seemingly normal routines of measuring our height, taking our photos and conducting body searches. When they took my picture they took off the blindfold, but because the light shone directly in my eyes I couldn't see who was behind the camera. The blindfold was then replaced before they measured my height. My jacket was confiscated and I was left with only my sports shirt.
Afterwards, two Military Intelligence Service (MIS) guards threw me into a cell measuring about six feet square. In the cell was a makeshift bed, a table, a chair and a neon light. About 15 minutes later, I heard someone writing on the door of my cell with chalk. 'They're writing my name,' I thought to myself.
I was blindfolded the whole time I was in the Interrogation Centre. The actual interrogations came at night and they started the day I was arrested, but sometimes I was also interrogated during the day. I knew when it was night because I could hear the children of the officers and guards learning their lessons in the soldiers' quarters.
Shortly after I was thrown into my cell, I heard the footsteps of someone approaching. The door opened and a man walked in. I later learned that he was the one who interrogated me throughout my time at the MIS Centre. His name was Sergeant Major Maung Thein and his voice was deep and hoarse. Although I never saw him, he smoked cheroots all the time and would usually be eating a snack. Once I caught a glimpse of his forearm on which there was a tattoo of a knife through a star. He told me to stand up and began to ask me questions about myself. Then he asked me how I got involved in the demonstrations. I thought I gave them quite detailed answers. He then asked,' Do you know Shwe Htee?'
'I don't know him,' I replied.
'You are lying. You must know him.'
'I have no idea who he is.'
This went on for a while and then I heard two people enter the room. 'This one's for you, mother fucker,' the sergeant major said, 'because you say you don't know Shwe Htee.' With that he left the room.
I felt perplexed. What did he mean by that? Whack! Suddenly someone hit me in the face. Then another men started beating me up and I dropped to the floor. They kicked me with their combat boots for about half an hour. As soon as they left, I heard a familiar voice.
'Do you know Shwe Htee?' Sergeant Major Maung Thein was back in the room.
'I don't know him. I told you already.'
'You've met him so you must know him.'
'Okay, I'll show you who's mistaken.'
I heard him walk out of the room again. Other footsteps approached but I had no idea if they belonged to one of the two men who had just beaten me up. I was ordered to do sit-ups, and about an hour later I dropped to the floor from exhaustion. In no time, the man began to hit me with a stick that he must have had since he came in. He kept hitting me and I had to cover my head with my hands to protect me. The stick was so rough that it gashed my hands.
Sergeant Major Maung Thein came back.' You can choose to answer the questions correctly or be beaten like this,' he said. 'It looks like you've never heard of our methods of torture. I'll tell you something, U Maung Ko died of torture. You don't want to die, do you? Now, standing the Ki position and we will see if you obey orders. Do what you are told, mother fucker!'
The door banged shut behind him. I then stood in the Ki position with my legs apart and bent, and with my fists clenched at my waist with my elbows behind me. A while later, I stood up to stretch out because my body was stiff and began to ache. Just then the Sergeant Major came back in.
'You are not doing what you were ordered to do, you son of a bitch!' and as he spoke I was beaten again.

Two days after my arrest I heard someone being questioned in the cell next to mine. It turned out to be Daw Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein. She seemed to have two interrogators in her cell. They were ordering her to answer different questions at the same time and I thought they were trying to trap her with her answers. I could also hear a woman crying in another room and I thought it was Saw Sanda Nwe. They were torturing her. I also heard the sounds of beatings and the voice of Than Than Htay. I could also hear Ko Phyo (a.k.a. Phyo Min Thein) being questioned and beaten, and the soft cries of Aung Kyaw Myint. I found out much later that Aung Kyaw Myint was sick at the time of his arrest and interrogation.
I experienced more beatings two days after my arrest. Blindfolded, my world was totally dominated by sounds. My heart was now in the habit of skipping a beat at the sound of the door opening, and the sound of footsteps was now traumatic. The sounds of birds chirping signaled the arrival of dawn, while the sounds of children studying out loud and the bell of the neighborhood fire watch told me of the darkness. One night three days after my arrest I heard the sound of a loudspeaker reminding residents of a Buddhist procession. The announcement began with 'The friends of Dhama who live on Manawhari Road', and the voice echoed through the night. It was only then I realised that I was at Military Intelligence Unit (MI-7) headquarters, which is located on Manwhari Road in Rangoon.
Before my arrest former political prisoners who had been through MIS Interrogation Centres had briefed me. They told me that the best way to avoid giving crucial information about the movement was to keep telling them the same answers. Although it was somehow effective, I realised later that it was costly. Whenever the MIS felt they didn't get a satisfactory response, they would force me to either sit in the Ki position, do sit-ups continuously or squat in the position of piloting an aircraft. They would also beat and kick me whenever they felt like it. I remember that when I was ordered to squat and pilot an aircraft, I had to make noises like a plane and bend over while stretching out my arms as if they were wings. I was also left without food or water.
Finally, after many sessions of torture, I was told I could sleep. I hadn't slept for three nights, had been deprived of food and water and had endured incessant torture. I was overjoyed at the prospect of getting some rest and I took it as a good sign. I fell asleep almost immediately. However, no sooner had I fallen asleep, I was woken up with a sharp kick to my right ribs. 'Do you know Shwe Htee? Someone demanded.
'I don't know who he is,' I replied, dazed but fully aware of what was going on.
'We have a photo of you two together which proves that you know him.'
I asked them to bring the photo to prove they weren't making it up. They took off my blindfold and showed me a photo, which turned out to be the one found in Nay Lin's2 school bag when he was detained. It was taken on U Pein Bridge.
'This isn't Shwe Htee, this is Than Win,' I said. My response angered them and I was once again slapped hard across my face.
When they left another man came in. It had already been three days since I was arrested and they hadn't given my any water or food. I asked him for some water.
'If you want to drink some water, you'll have to ride a bicycle to get it,' he said matter-of-factly.
'What?' I had no idea what he was talking about.
'The water is in Pegu so you'll have to ride there to get it.'
I then knew what I must do now for a cup of water. I began to pretend to ride a bike as instructed-a bike journey from Rangoon to Pegu to quench my thirst. A few moments later, he asked where I was now.
'Minglaladon,' I replied, a town about 20 kilometers from Rangoon.
'You liar! The bike's not that fast!' He hit me with his baton and I blanked out for a moment. I then had to ride the bike starting again from Rangoon. The thirst was driving me crazy and I couldn't go on anymore.
'I'm so thirsty. Give me some water,' I almost pleaded with him.
'Okay. They water pot is right beside you. Show me how you drink the water.'
Again I had to act out an imaginary situation. Now I was pretending to scoop water from a pot while riding the imaginary bike. I felt there was probably no way I could satisfy him. I must have spent half the day pretending to ride the bike and trying to drink water from the imaginary pot. Only when my body was soaked with sweat and I couldn't go on any longer was I told to stop.
Eventually I realised that they wouldn't give me anything unless I told them all I knew about my involvement in the movement. So I decided to try something else.
'I want to go to toilet,' I ventured.
'No. Don't even think about it.'
'If you don't let me go I'll do it here,' I said, sounding as though I really meant it.
Only then was I taken to the toilet. Since I was still blindfolded, I couldn't see anything along the way and I tripped over something. I was unable to get up immediately so the guard kicked me with his boots to get me up.
'Don't bolt the door,' he warned before I went into the toilet.
I locked the door securely despite the warning. I couldn't stand it anymore. I quickly drank the water from the water pot in the toilet. I was so thirsty and drinking so hurriedly that I mistakenly scraped the water scoop on the bottom of the pot.
' You mother fucker!' The guard now knew what I was doing in the toilet. 'You're drinking the water in the toilet!' he yelled, pounding the door. 'Son of a bitch! Open up! Open up!'
I opened the door and pictured the angry face of my torturer, Sergeant Major Maung Thein. The guard grabbed me by my neck, pulled me up and punched me countless times on my face. I understood then what price you could pay for a cup of water in a situation like this. The angry face dragged me back to the cell and threw me in. The guard continued to beat me with a baton.
Next was the turn of the Sergeant Major. This time he wanted to know more about what I did from the very beginning. 'Now tell me what you have done since 1988. Don't lie to us. If you do, we'll catch you out because we have everything on record about you.'
I told him a lot of things, except important matters regarding my movements.
'Now tell me who you have worked with.'
I told him the names of my comrades who had already been in prison. Unfortunately, I was only able to come up with five other names.
'Only six of you in total? You lying bastard!'
'Yes, only six of us,' I said.
'You don't want to get hurt, do you mother fucker? Isn't there anyone else besides the six of you?'
'No. Only six of us.'
That did it. He left the room and I knew what was coming.
I heard two men coming and without warning they began to hit me all over with heavy wooden sticks. They stopped only when I couldn't resist any longer and fell to the floor. Then I must have fainted as have no clear recollection of what happened after that.

On the fourth day of my detention, I was given some water in a beer can. I drank it like a mad man. But as I was gulping down the water I suddenly stopped. I had a thought that frightened me for a moment. 'What have they put in the water? Is this pure water?' I had heard stories about political prisoners being given poisonous water while under interrogation. However, I was so thirsty and I thought that since I had drunk some already it now didn't make any difference, so I drank it all.
In what I think was the afternoon, a guard came into the cell. He gave me a plate and I realised that I'd be getting my first meal in four days. The guard asked me to lift up the blindfold so I could see the food. I held the plate in one hand and removed the blindfold. Suddenly, I dropped the plate in fright-there was the head of big snake on the plate with a lump of rice! I then quickly realised that it was actually the head of a fish very much like that of a snake. However it was too late as I had committed a crime. The fish head and rice were all over the floor.
'You idiot! You've thrown away your food!' the guard shouted.
I was beaten again. At this stage I didn't feel any pain because I was numb from all the other beatings. Afterwards I picked up some of the rice and ate it with the fish head. I couldn't finish the whole meal and left a bit on the floor, even though I knew this was punishable by beating. I just couldn't be bothered anymore.
'Are you protesting? The guard said in an angry voice. 'Is this a hunger strike?'
I didn't say anything and this incident was again followed by a spate of beatings. I was thirsty again after the meal so I asked the officer to give me some water.
'I gave you some water this morning and that was for the whole day.'
The answer was very clear so I stayed quiet for the rest of the day.
Sergeant Major Maung Thein returned in the evening to resume the questioning and I noticed a change in his tone. His voice took on a tone of pity.
'Phone Myint Tun, you're a stubborn man you know. You won't get hurt if you just answer my questions correctly. Look at you, you look like shit. All you have to do is tell us what you know and we'll let you go. Once you are out, you'll only be required to report to us regularly about the movement. Can you do that? It's a small matter. I am telling you this because it will do you some good. We'll release you immediately if you agree.'
I understood exactly what he was asking me to do. He wanted me to be an informer. I told him I couldn't do what he wanted and he slapped me in the face.
'If you can't do what we are asking you to do, you will have to spend a long time in prison. You know what a prison is? It's where people are slowly tortured to death.'
'I'm not afraid of prison,' I replied. 'I knew I'd get arrested some day and go through this because of what I've done. If I have to, I'll gladly go to prison.'
As I finished speaking he hit me across the head and said it was extremely rude of me to talk to him in such a way.
On the fifth day, the questioning and beatings continued as before, but this time they threatened to electrocute me. They told me not to be stubborn and promised that they would give me electric shocks if I was. In the course of the questioning, I heard a sound from one of the adjacent rooms. It was the sound of someone in acute pain, and it was continuous and frightening. I heard it clearer and louder when I was taken to the toilet for the second time. The guard who took me to the toilet told me that his colleagues were giving electric shocks to a stubborn man like me. I took it as a real threat. Out of curiosity, I listened closely to the screams of the man who was supposedly being electrocuted. However, the words heard were not Burmese. I was astonished to hear that the man was shouting in a foreign language that I couldn't recognise.
Near the toilet and still blindfolded, I tripped over someone who must have been sitting nearby. Much later in prison when political prisoners related to each other what they went through in the Interrogation Centres, I was surprised to learn that that someone I tripped over was Moe Aye3. He was also blindfolded and placed in stocks. He said he got very angry every time someone bumped into him. He also told me that the one who was given electric shocks at the time was one of two Chinese student leaders. I knew about them from a press conference that General Khin Nyunt held before I was detained. The Chinese were arrested before they were able to enter the United States Embassy in Rangoon.
I was moved to another cell on the fifth day, and a soldier in uniform came to take my fingerprints. Soon after I was moved into the new cell I heard lawyer U Saw Lwin, who was the general secretary of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League, answering questions in another room. Later, U Saw Lwin and I would be taken to Insein Special Prison on the same day and placed in the same cell after both having gone through a hellish time at MI-7.
The questioning began again and continued into the evening. This time the questions were in more detail focusing on each answer I had given over the past four days. They covered a lot of areas including my role in various demonstrations, the meetings I had participated in, my connections with my colleagues who had been sentenced and all that I did for the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU).
The next day, I was again transferred to another cell, but I think it was the previous room in which I had been repeatedly tortured. They said they would ask me more questions but instead they let me sleep that night. Only then did I realise that the room was full of mosquitoes and bugs.
In the morning of my seventh day at the Interrogation Centre, I heard someone telling Sergeant Major Maung Thein that the commander, a major, would visit the facility that day. At about one o'clock in the afternoon, I heard commands being shouted and guards saluting. I could also hear murmurs and muffled voices. Then I smelt strong perfume near my cell, and in no time the door opened and the smell of perfume was even stronger. Blindfolded, I heard Sergeant Major Maung Thein talking about me to his commander. When the major heard the brief report, he spoke to me.
'You are stiff-necked, aren't you?'
'I've told the MIS officials all I know,' I replied.
'Take the skin off this stubborn mother fucker Indian if he doesn't obey,' the major said.' He has done a lot of damage to us. Give the son of a bitch 15 years and let him take a rest in Insein.' The major then left with his entourage.
A few minutes later, the sergeant major gave me a cup of tea. Then he asked me what turned out to be the final questions. After that he hit me hard three times on my head with a stick and said, 'Sign here. These are your answers.'
I was not allowed to look at my supposed confession, but I quickly signed the paper anyway. I remember three was large space on the last page under which I was told to sign my name and write my home address along with the names of my parents. I had no idea what the space was going to be used for.
Around three o'clock that afternoon I heard my name being called out. An officer came over and told me that I would be released soon.
'You're going home,' he said.' But don't forget the Buddha and his teachings wherever you go.' Ironically, he then boxed my ears. I took it as a farewell punch.
Still blindfolded, I was told to jump over something, bend down as if avoiding something overhead and walk on all fours on my way out to the truck, the same as I was told to do on the way into the Centre. I was also ordered to lower my head the whole journey and not look out the vehicle. When I felt a hot wind blow across my face I realised I was out of the hands of the MIS. But I knew I would not be released. As I expected, my next home turned out to be the notorious Insein Prison.
When we arrived at the entrance to Insein Special Prison, I was again ordered to bend down to avoid something overhead. I decided to defy the order this time, but it was a mistake. My head hit the beam of the entrance door and the MIS officer also hit me for not obeying him.
My blindfold was taken off and a prison warden inspected me at the entrance. He found me to be a bruised and wounded prisoner. He then told the MIS officer that the prison could not accept me in such a condition. The officer was outraged and demanded that I be accepted. He insisted that the prison official sign a letter of refusal if the prison could not take me. It was a threat and it worked. I was eventually accepted as a new prisoner and so began another journey.

These were my experiences at the MI-7 Interrogation Centre. I pay homage to those who have endured the horrors and tortures of the Interrogation Centres and prisons in Burma, and to those who have suffered more than me.

Endnotes
1- A list kept of the people who live in a house, including the names of any guests who may be staying there. The authorities must be informed of any guests before 9 pm each night and random checks are carried out to ensure households comply.
2- A student from the All Burma Basic Education Students' Union (ABBESU).
3- See Moe Aye's personal account on page 68.