A PANEL DISCUSSION ON “COURAGEOUS VOICES: SPEAKING OUT FOR PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE”
THURSDAY, JULY 24, 2008
1:15 TO 2:30 P.M.
UN CONFERENCE ROOM 6
AMBASSADOR T. VANCE McMAHAN
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE TO ECONOMIC & SOCIAL COUNCIL
MODERATOR
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Ambassador McMahan, thank you very much for your kind introduction.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am truly honored to be here with you all to commemorate the “Declaration on Prisoners of Conscience”, which is another milestone of the 21st century , after the sixty year anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Thank you very much for giving me an opportunity to speak on behalf of political prisoners in Burma, also known as Myanmar, a country of Southeast Asia, which has been ruled by the most repressive military regime since 1962.
Once, our leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said in 2002, quote, “until all of our political prisoners are free, none of us can say that Burma is now truly on the road towards democratic change” unquote. It was then she had been released from her second house arrest; however, not soon after, she was put in detention again and remains under house arrest until today. She is the world’s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize Recipient and one of over 2,000 political prisoners, being held in 43 prisons and 32 labor camps, scattered all over the country. They are men and women, teachers and students, Buddhist Monks, nuns and other religious leaders, party members and human rights defenders, journalists, writers, musicians and comedians, Members of Parliament-elect, ethnic leaders and trade unionists. They all are arrested for their simple desire to obtain democracy and human rights by peaceful means. Many activists have been killed in interrogation chambers and died in prison. I deeply remember them today, Prisoners of Conscience of Burma, as I was one of them 15 years ago.
I was a 25 year-old Engineering student in 1988. Together with my fellow students, I organized a nationwide popular uprising in Burma in August 1988, in which millions of people from all walks of life came to the streets and called for the military regime to end its dictatorship and to restore democracy and human rights. The military regime responded with excessive force, automatic weapons and brutally crushed down the peaceful demonstrators. Tens of thousands of protestors were killed, and thousands more were arrested. After hiding for six months, I was arrested in April 1989.
I was arrested by the military intelligence, which is known in Burma as MI, on a passenger bus, while I was moving from a hiding place to another. A group of strong men forcibly removed me from the bus, blindfolded me, and handcuffed me at my back and threw me into a waiting truck. For two hours, I was on the floor of the truck, lying and facing the dirty floor, and these men put their boots on my body. For them, I was defeated. I heard their voice, reporting to their boss, using a walky-talky, that their mission was accomplished. I realized that a gate of hell was open.
For one month, I was detained at the military intelligence headquarters, on the outskirts of Rangoon, former capital of Burma. After a two hours drive, I was thrown into a small room, subsequently tortured severely and continuously. Sometimes I was like a soccer ball in the football field, being kicked by several players. Sometimes I was a punching bag, being hit by many fists. Sometimes I was hanged from the ceiling, upside down, with my head drowning in a bucket of water. I couldn’t protect the attacks, as my eyes were blindfolded. I couldn’t avoid these kicks as my hands were tied. A group came in for torture, then they left, then another group came in for questioning, then they left, then another group came in for torture. Torturing and interrogation took turns for seven days continuously days and nights, and I was not given food and water. I was not allowed to sleep and use toilet in these days. I was not even allowed to lose my consciousness. When I passed out, they took of the blindfold, and simply splashed cool water on my face to wake me up.
After one month of interrogation, I was sent to Insein Prison, another living hell for political activists in Burma. I was put in solitary confinement for 12 months. My solitary confinement was a tiny cell, 8 foot by 12 foot, constructed with four concrete walls and a ceiling that was too high. There was one iron-gate at the front and a small window covered with wire-mesh high on the back wall. I was allowed to leave from the cell for 15 minutes per day to take bath and throw increments. I had to stay 23 hours and 45 minutes per day in this tiny cell, together with small insects, such as ants, mosquitoes, flies and bugs, for a year.
Once, I got a small piece of brick that I had picked up from a nearby bathing place. I used this piece of brick and drew a calendar on the wall. First I made the seven columns and marked the days, Sunday, Monday, etc. Then I made the 5 rolls and marked the dates, from 1 to 30. Then I checked off every day I passed. One month had quickly ended. I had to draw another month, then another month, then. One day, a prison official noticed these calendars on the wall and he went ballistic. He instructed the warders to bring me to his office, he accused me that I violated the prison rules and decided to give me a punishment, which was a three-day stay in a pitch-black cell with only glue for food.
When I looked at that cell from outside, I didn’t see any difference. But I found the difference when I was in there. It was similar to the other cells, 8 foot by 12 foot. But the window at the back wall and the iron-gate at the front were covered with thick metal plates. When they closed the door, there was no light in the cell. I couldn’t even see my fingers. They also took off my clothes; therefore I was naked. There was no bamboo mat, no blanket, and no chamber pot. I was scared within a few minutes. I tried to control myself, so I sang songs, I shouted, I jumped, and I cried. I tried to lie down on the floor, but it was too cold. I couldn’t lie down for more than 15 minutes. I did everything that made me feel alive and still sane. It was the first time I started to look for someone to pray to protect me under the huge amount of fear. I might have become crazy if they had put me in that cell for more than three days. The only food I got was glue, which was made of with low-quality broken rice and used to feed pigs.
After that punishment, I decided that I would try to avoid punishment in the future. But it was very difficult to do so, because; first, we could not always obey these dirty regulations. Second, there were many rules that cannot be remembered all the time. Third, prison authorities are always trying to find mistakes of the political prisoners purposely. Therefore, almost all political prisoners have to go through the experiences of various and severe punishments in jail. And I received punishments again and again.
Now, I am in freedom, but many of my colleagues are still in prisons in Burma. They are not criminals. Actually, they are the future of our country and their lives should be used for building a better nation. They should be freed immediately and unconditionally and they should be allowed to participate in the country’s political process. That’s why; we are appealing the UN Security Council to take an effective action on Burma. However, the Security Council is paralyzed by two veto power countries, China and Russia.
I appreciate the commitment made by these 64 nations, including the United States, 27 EU members and 36 other nations, “to work for the freedom of prisoners of conscience and to make their release a key priority in their relations with other states”. I hope their determination and decisive and collective action will help prisoners of conscience all over the world, including from Burma, to be free soon.
Thank You,
Aung Din
Executive Director
U.S. Campaign for Burma
aungdin@uscampaignforburma.org
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