Burma: life behind bars

http://www.radionetherlands.nl/thestatewerein/otherstates/tswi-090103-Burma-Bo-Kyi

by Phil Thornton

31-12-2008

Living and working in Burma is tough. Writing stories and poetry, telling jokes or criticising the military regime risks a Draconian jail sentence. In early November a prison court sentenced 14 activists to 65-year jail sentences.

One Burmese man has made it his life's work to ensure these prisoners will not be forgotten.


Bo Kyi at the AAPP office
In a small wooden house inside a tree-lined compound in the Thai border town of Mae Sot a group of men and women tap computer keyboards, talk on cell phones and show guests around a tiny airless room filled with photos. It is a reconstructed Burmese prison cell. The men and women work for the Association Assisting Political Prisoners (AAPP) and all are former prisoners. Their sentences ranged from fourteen years for writing leaflets to five years for attending a student protest.

Award
A founding member and now secretary of AAPP, Bo Kyi was jailed three times for a total of seven years and three months. Since his release from jail in 1998, Bo Kyi has campaigned to free all Burmese political prisoners and for this work he was recently recognized by the New York based Human Rights Watch and accredited with their Human Rights Defender award.

Bo Kyi says while it is nice to receive awards, it is critically important to continue to keep international pressure on the regime to release all Burma's political prisoners:



"Burma is a silent killing field. By putting political opponents in jail they [the military regime] are systematically killing our activists, our writers, our poets and our artists. In jail there is no hospital care and no doctors. Prisoners are being put in jails in remote areas far from their families. Many are sick and can't get help."
He was jailed for the first time in 1990 for leading a demonstration for the release of political prisoners.

"I was sentenced to three years hard labour. I was interrogated and tortured for 36 hours. I was given no food or water and was kept handcuff and blindfolded."

Blood spots
Bo Kyi was denied access to his family and says they did not know what had happened to him.

"I was put in a small cell, I could see blood spots and many names, including those of my friends. I was not allowed to shower for nine days."

Bo Kyi: "Jail taught me to live in the present"

In spite of the torture and beatings he was determined to stay positive.

"I wanted to study. I had an English dictionary smuggled in. I ate the pages as I learnt them. I ate a lot of dictionary when I was in jail",
he laughs, adding on a more serious note,
"I also learnt I had no future. It [jail] taught me to live in the present, other wise I would have gone crazy thinking about the future."

Cynical stunt
The Burmese regime's State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) rules Burma with an iron fist. The Association Assisting Political Prisoners estimates Burma currently has 2,123 political prisoners in its jail.

In spite of international condemnation the regime continues to jail its opponents, in September this year 140 people were arrested for political reasons.

In what was seen as a cynical stunt to disrupt international events planned to commemorate last year's monk and civilian protests in Rangoon, the regime released 9002 prisoners, only seven of these were political, the rest were classified by AAPP as ‘petty criminals'.

In spite of his experiences in jail, Bo Kyi is not after revenge.

"Those who tortured me are also victims of the system. Sooner or later Burma will change, the people want change, but in the meantime people will have to speak out. International NGOs working inside Burma have been silenced, but they have to speak out. We can't let our brothers and sisters rot in jail because they had the courage to protest for change."