At least 13 political prisoners in Myanmar have been killed by the junta while transferring from one detention facility to another, family members and rights organizations told Radio Free Asia.
During the month of June alone, 37 political prisoners transferred from Daik-U prison, in the Bago region north of Yangon, went missing before reaching their destinations.
At least eight of these have been killed, the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, or AAPP, announced on July 19.
Several family members have suggested that the junta is transferring the prisoners as a pretext to execute them away from surveillance, and they doubt the official explanations of how the prisoners died.
In one such explanation seen by RFA’s Burmese Service, in a letter from prison authorities, a family was informed that the prisoner was shot while trying to escape after the prison transfer vehicle carrying him overturned in a road accident.
In another case, prison authorities notified the family of 31-year-old Nay Aye that he had died in a strikingly similar way, one of Nay Aye’s friends told RFA.
“The mail arrived after 3 p.m on the 14th. It was the notification letter from the Daik-U prison department signed by Kyaw Zay Ya,” Nay Aye’s friend said. “The letter said that he was shot dead while he and other prisoners were attempting to escape when the prison transfer vehicle transporting them from Daik-U to Tharyarwaddy Prison almost overturned on a road accident.”
He said that the report was not believable and that he considered it to be a deliberate and premeditated murder.
Nay Aye was arrested in Yangon on Nov. 24, 2021, sentenced to life imprisonment by the secret tribunal in Insein Prison under the Anti-Terrorism Act, and then sent to Daik-U Prison by the junta.
While at Daik-U, he was praised by the prisoners for trying to open an in-prison clinic, get access to clean water and secure the right for political prisoners to read.
Zin Win Htut, 27, is another prisoner who was killed in a transfer. He had been incarcerated since December 2021 and was serving a 15-year sentence for violating the Anti-Terrorism Act.
His family was informed of his death on July 18, sources close to him told RFA. A member of the Myingyan University Student Union which Zin Win Htut once vice-chaired, said he believes it was an intentional murder.
Anti-junta activities
According to AAPP, the eight prisoners killed on transfers in June are Zin Win Htut alias Ta Yoke Gyi, Nay Aye alias Arkar Htet, Paing Myo, Yar Lay alias Zin Myint Tun, Pyae Phyo Hein alias Ko Pyae, Wai Yan Lwin alias Jar Gyi, Khant Lin Naing alias Ko Khant, Bo Bo Win alias Htan Taw Gyi, and Aung Myo Thu.
According to a junta report issued on Dec. 12, 2021, all eight were arrested for their association with the Bago People’s Defense Force, or PDF, one of many grassroots militias formed by citizens after the Feb. 1, 2021 coup.
In addition to those eight, Aung Soe Moe alias Mae Lone died in Daik-U Prison on July 16. Maung Dee, a former lawmaker who was ousted during the coup from Waw township in the Bago region, died on July 17 after being transferred to Bago Hospital due to ill health, AAPP reported.
Earlier, in May, 19-year-old student activist Thant Zin Win and two other political prisoners whose names cannot be confirmed, were killed when 24 political prisoners from Daik-U Prison were taken out and interrogated again by the junta authorities, according to people close to the prison.
These incidents summed up the total deaths of 13 political prisoners in Daik-U Prison alone.
No bodies
Whenever the families of the dead political prisoners ask to see the body, the prison authorities always refuse, a person close to one of the families told RFA.
“They said that he died but we couldn’t see or know anything about the body,” the source said. “They issued notification letters to the families but we don’t know what purpose they were issued for. We want to know the truth about what happened.”
RFA reached out to Naing Win, the spokesman and the deputy director general of the prison department for comment, but his phone rang unanswered.
An AAPP official told RFA that these killings are human rights violations. He said that AAPP urges the international community, including the United Nations, to investigate and take effective action as soon as possible.
“It was evident that the junta shot and killed the inmates from Daik-U prison outside,” he said. “ It is a really horrible and brutal violation of human rights.”
Source: Radio Free Asia