A Myanmar NGO keeping track of political prisoners and detainees in Myanmar this week announced that the military junta has detained 10,000 people since the 1 February coup, according to their documentation.
This week the number of documented detainees hit the 10,000 mark in a campaign to crackdown on the pro-democracy struggle, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) press release.
As the AAPP notes, a total of 10,000 civilians have been detained by the military Junta in its crackdown on the pro-democracy struggle. These are mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, friends, and other loved ones who chose to resist an illegitimate 1 February coup attempt.
The AAPP is concerned that there could be more detained.
As they note, these are only 10,000 individuals documented by AAPP.
“Our organization knows there are many more. On April 24, the military told an ASEAN leaders’ summit 9,948 had been detained and 4,511 were already released.”
The AAPP claims the junta “tries deception with unconditional releases”.
On June 30, the military said they would release 2,342 protestors, although only 370 have been identified. Again, on October 18, announcing 5,636 would be released. However, AAPP has confirmed 4,075, with only 1,199 identified.
All of those released were forced to sign 401(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, threatening them with harsher sentences in any future arrest. According to these past announcements by the Junta, 12,489 political detainees have been released since the coup. But there is a crater sized gap between reality and what this Junta tells the world.
As of November 11, at least 150 have been killed in custody, some within 24 hours through brutal interrogation methods, others locked in an overcrowded jail and denied necessary medical treatment during a pandemic.
Yet all the detained will be mentally and physically tortured. Even those they take hostage when their relatives cannot be found. 244 people have been arrested as hostages since the coup, 194 of them remain detained. The youngest is an infant under 1-years-old.
As of our sources, prison conditions are ruthless, with corruption everywhere. There is not enough quality food to eat or space to sleep. Detainees need to pay bribes to avoid degrading or harsh labor, denied even the most basic human dignity.
Fundamentally, the 10,000 civilians arrested were not criminals, they are students, doctors, journalists, teachers, striking workers, politicians, lawyers, civil servants. People who do not want a return to harsh authoritarian rule.
As the AAPP notes, ASEAN’s ‘Five-Point Consensus’ to deal with the military inflicted political, economic, and social crisis ignored the escalating numbers of political prisoners. The first talking point must be the unconditional release of all political prisoners, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint.
The NGO says that arbitrary detentions began this illegitimate coup, the continued existence of political prisoners is the barometer of democracy in Burma. As long as there are political prisoners there can be no national reconciliation.
