Activists advocating for political prisoners report that female political prisoners face human rights violations, including sexual harassment, in various prisons under the Prisons Department.
Among political prisoners, female prisoners are subjected to human rights violations such as solitary confinement, reduction of food rations, sexual harassment and denial of medical care, the activists said.
After the prison authorities ordered on 22 May that only family members of prisoners are allowed to visit the prisons, the situation for political prisoners has worsened, according to sources close to the prisons.
Ma Zin May Thet, spokesperson for the Women’s Organization Of Political Prisoners (WOPP), said: “Whether they come from outside or inside the prison, during menstruation there are such situations where they are not even allowed to speak and all female prisoners are forced to undress in front of other female prisoners. This is how they are oppressed.”
There are currently about 10 prisons, including Insein, Daik-U, Tharyarwaddy, Yamethin, Myingyan, Kyaikmaraw, Dawei and Obo, where human rights violations occur. According to former political prisoners, Obo prison is the most brutal of them all.
In Obo prison, political prisoners who protest are beaten bloody with electric batons, batons, bamboo staffs and iron bars until they bleed. The injured are denied medical treatment and face punishments such as food and water cuts and solitary confinement, according to the activists.
“We can send sanitary towels to the prisons. We try to do that as best we can. But sexual harassment happens inside the prison. Whether the female prisoners are visiting the clinic for health reasons or moving from one place to another, the female prison staff conduct invasive searches themselves,” said Ma May Zin Thet.
“Sometimes they are forced to undress in front of other female prisoners, even though they say it is uncomfortable during menstruation. They are subjected to such harassment as body searches,” she added.
Currently, the parcels sent by the families go through multiple checks and confiscations at each stage and about a third of the sent items reach their intended recipients.
In addition, the lawyers of pre-trial detainees face pressure and threats during court hearings, as well as restrictions on questions and answers, and even being held at gunpoint, according to former political prisoners.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a total of 26,747 people had been arrested for political reasons since the military coup on 1 February 2021 until 27 May of this year, 20,499 of whom are still in detention.
Sent by NMG.