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The First Arrest
On August 10,1989, at around ten o'clock in the morning, I received
a letter from the district Law and Order Restoration Council (LORC)
in Tarmweh, Rangoon, requesting my presence in their office for
questioning. At the time I was working as a District Youth Secretary
for the National Political Front (NPF). The next day I arrived at
the office at around 9.30 am and presented the letter to the LORC
officials. They introduced me to a plain-clothed officer and told
me to wait.
About an hour later I asked the officials if I would be questioned
at the district office. They told me they wouldn't question me at
the office, but that I would have to wait some time as the person
who wished to question me had not yet arrive. While I was waiting
I asked to go outside to get something to eat and they allowed me
to leave. However, instead of getting some food, I returned to my
office and left a message for my colleagues telling them what was
going on.
When I returned to the LORC office I noticed a large Mazda T2000
pick-up truck parked out the front. I was told that the people who
wanted to speak with me had arrived, and I was instructed to get
into the back of the truck. I sat with two plain-clothed officers
in the back of the pick-up, while another officer sat in the front.
The vehicle was driven to the intersection near Kyau Myaun marked,
then to the Karaweik Hotel past Kandawgyi and on toward the zoo.
When we arrived in the vicinity of the Rangoon Yacht Association
building, one plain-clothed officer placed a black hood over my
head. There was, however, a small hole in the hood which I could
just see through. Shortly afterwards I was ordered to lie down on
the floor of the pick-up. I asked them why they were doing this
and they replied that it was for security reason. Through the small
hole I could see an officer opening a black umbrella and positioning
it over me to make sure I couldn't be seen from outside the vehicle.
No one spoke as we headed to what I thought were the outskirts of
Rangoon.
About 30 minutes later I was hand cuffed and I asked if I had been
arrested. The officers told me that hadn't been arrested but that
I was being restrained for security reasons. Ten minutes later the
truck stooped and I heard the sounds of people moving about. I thought
that the officers were possibly changing guard. I could also hear
the sounds of buses and cars passing by and thought that I might
be near a bus station. I also heard the sound of aeroplanes and
a loud speaker and guessed that we were probably on the outskirts
of town.
About 15 minutes later the pick-up turned off the main road into
a small lane. It stopped shortly afterwards and the officers ordered
me to get out. I noticed a significant change in their treatment
of me. They were no longer polite but became arrogant and refused
to answer any of my questions. My handcuffs were removed and I was
told to walk through an iron gate. They removed the black hood from
my head and placed another hood over me which I couldn't see out
of. I was then ordered to walk again, and told to take a large stride
across a small drain and to lower my head at intervals. We then
arrived in a room that felt like a large ward.
In the room I was told to walk while squatting on my haunches. I
then heard the sound of a door opening and someone told me to go
through the door. When I entered the room I asked the officers for
a drink of water, and I was told to reach out for a pot of water
that was supposedly in front of me, but nothing was there. I then
heard the door closing. I was instructed to stand with my back to
the door so I couldn't see who was behind me, and was told to remove
the hood. I was ordered to turn around and hand the hood to someone
who was standing behind a small hole in the wall. With the hood
removed, I could see a bright light on the ceiling as well as a
table and chair, a bed, a mat and one military-issue blanket. There
was one closed window with wire netting over it and a small ventilation
grate above the window with similar wire netting.
After an hour or so, they returned the hood to me through the small
hole in the wall and told me to put it over my head again. They
then took me to a different room in the same building. When I arrived
I sensed there were other people in the room. I heard a typewriter
coming from upstairs and I presumed that I was somewhere in an office
building.
The officers then commenced their interrogation asking me various
questions about my connections with people in the underground student
movement. The whole time my head was covered with the hood. They
were again very arrogant when they questioned me. The questioning
went on for what seemed to be almost two hours.
After the interrogation they took me to another room where I was
again permitted to remove the hood. An hour later they returned
and took me to another room for further questioning. This time their
manner was even more arrogant and aggressive. When they were dissatisfied
with my hands behind my head for a period of 15 minutes. I was told
to sit in this position twice. The second time I was struck across
the side of my face, just below my ear. The questions that I was
asked were exactly the same as before, and this session also lasted
for about two hours. I resumed that the interrogations were carefully
planned and that they wanted to get certain kinds of answers from
me.
After the second interrogation session they didn't ask me any further
questions, although I was confined in the cell for five days. I
was given rice with vegetables or peas in the morning, and in the
evening I was given a small amount of meat with rice. The rice was
never cooked very well.
On the night of the fourth day I was moved to another room. Another
student leader, who I knew, was brought into the room. He thought
that we would soon be transferred to prison. That afternoon we were
not allowed to read. I was photographed from the front and on both
sides with an identification board.
On the afternoon of the fifth day, I was instructed to cover my
head and was taken to a small van with about 20 other people in
it. After driving for 45 minutes, I heard a crowd of people and
was instructed to get out of the van. We were led through a large
gate into a big compound and told to remove our hoods. I then realised
that I was in the compound of Insein Prison. I was registered and
taken to a small isolation cell, Room 22 in Ward 4. Although I wasn't
told what I had been charged with, or what my sentence was, I saw
that I was registered as a '5(j)' prisoner. I then knew that I had
been charged under Section 5(j) of the Emergency Provision Act.
I was taken to the Insein Prison military court and was not allowed
to say anything in front of the judge.
Inside Insein Prison I was often moved from one room to another.
Some months later I was moved to Cell Block 1 because the authorities
changed my charge. I was imprisoned in Insein for two and a half
years and during this time we were not allowed visits from friends
or family. I did, however, receive one parcel from my family containing
food. We were fed rice and vegetables or peas with rice every morning,
and in the evening again fed rice with boiled pork or some other
meat. We were not given any medical treatment aside from some pills.
A medical officer checked people on a weekly basis but no care was
given. We had to rely on medicines that were sent to us from outside.
I was not interrogated further during my period of imprisonment.
On January 29, 1992, a military court inside Insein Prison found
me guilty of committing two crimes-breaching Section 5(j) of the
Emergency Provisions act and breaching Section22 of the Publication
Act. I was sentenced to three years imprisonment. A few months later
I was given a sheet of paper on which there were ten questions and
a prison official said I was required to answer all of them. I can
recall only eight questions.
Q: Which political organisations are you involved in?
A: The National Political Front (NPF).
Q: What Positions did you have with these organistions?
A: A member of the Central Executive Committee and a District Youth
Secretary.
Q: What do you think of the NLD?
A: The NLD won the election.
Q: What do you think of Suu Kyi winning the Nobel Peace Prize?
A: I am very proud of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi because she is the first
Burmese woman to win such an award and she is the daughter of General
Aung San.
Q: What do you think of the SLORC?
A: As you have taken charge of the country's affairs, we have military
rule.
Q: Will you continue your involvement in politics after your release?
A: I will continue until Burma achieves democracy.
Q: What kind of life do you want after your release?
A: I want to live together with my family and I want to continue
to be involved in politics.
Q: What do you want to do in the future?
A: Under a democratic government, I want to live a peaceful and
prosperous life. I also want to work for the good of my people.
Around ten days later, on May 1, 1992, order 11/921 was issued for
release. I was in the fifth group of prisoners to be released at
that time. At around 2pm on the same day I was informed that my
mother had died.
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