{"id":1588917,"date":"2024-04-03T19:59:34","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T19:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/myanmar\/killings-04032024152430.html"},"modified":"2024-04-03T19:59:34","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T19:59:34","slug":"after-a-year-of-silence-7-political-prisoners-confirmed-killed-in-myanmars-insein-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2024\/04\/03\/after-a-year-of-silence-7-political-prisoners-confirmed-killed-in-myanmars-insein-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"After a year of silence, 7 political prisoners confirmed killed in Myanmar\u2019s Insein Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

Authorities at Myanmar\u2019s notorious Insein Prison shot seven political prisoners dead under murky circumstances on Valentine\u2019s Day last year, sources with ties to the victims\u2019 families and prisoner watchdog groups told RFA Burmese on Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Feb. 14, 2023, killings, which were confirmed on Monday following the intervention of the International Committee of the Red Cross, or ICRC, help to shed light on the fates of hundreds who have died in detention for opposing junta rule in the more than three years since the military\u2019s 2021 coup d\u2019etat.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The seven men were arrested on Feb. 7, 2023, for allegedly killing 11 people, including veteran soldiers, local administrative officers and civilians, as part of the anti-coup movement, the junta said.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The men\u2019s names were Aung Khant Phyo (also known as Moe Tain), Pyae Phyo Nyein and Nyi Nyi Htwe \u2013 three men in their 20s \u2013 and Chit Ko, Aung Zaw Lin, Tin Soe and Aye Thein \u2013 four men in their 50s, according to relatives and groups monitoring political prisoners.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

After their arrest, family members were unable to speak with the men for months and were given no update on their status, despite multiple requests to prison officials, they told RFA.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n\"An<\/a>\n
An aerial view of Myanmar's Insein Prison on the outskirts of Yangon, shown in a file photo. (AP Photo\/Khin Maung Win)<\/figcaption>\n<\/small>\n
\n\n\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/span><\/p>\n

However, on Monday, they learned that within a week of their arrest and detention at Yangon\u2019s Insein Prison, the seven men were taken out of the facility to lead authorities to a \u201chidden cache of weapons\u201d and shot dead \u201cas they tried to escape,\u201d a source close to the family of one of the victims told RFA, citing a junta explanation of the incident.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThey couldn\u2019t be contacted for about a year,\u201d said the source who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThen, with the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross, they were confirmed to have been killed in the same month of their arrest. We only found out about their deaths on Monday.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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The military regime has released no statement on the incident and attempts by RFA to contact junta Deputy Director General Naing Win went unanswered Wednesday. Officials at Insein Prison failed to provide specific answers about the circumstances surrounding the deaths when contacted by RFA.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2018Murder in prison\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

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Tun Kyi, a former political prisoner who monitors cases of detention under the junta, told RFA that the details of the case only came to light after family members of the victims contacted the ICRC to inquire about their situation.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"We have not received direct information about the killing of these prisoners, but their family members have confirmed the incident,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

According to former inmates who have since been released from Insein Prison, none of the seven victims were known to have been tried in court and the charges they faced were never made public.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In response to an emailed inquiry about their case, a spokesperson for the ICRC told RFA that the group was unable to comment.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cOur preferred way of working is to engage bilaterally and confidentially with all relevant actors to facilitate open and honest discussions, whether with the relevant authorities or with family members or a community,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, we cannot publicly disclose or comment on the ICRC's findings, recommendations and discussions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The spokesperson said that in 2023, ICRC had assisted families in identifying the whereabouts of 314 people in Myanmar.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n\"Aung<\/a>\n
Aung Kyaw Moe, a Rohingya humanitarian worker, in his office in Yangon, Aug. 15, 2018. (Ye Aung Thu\/AFP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/small>\n
\n\n\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Aung Kyaw Moe, deputy minister of human rights for the shadow National Unity Government, said the killings amounted to \u201ca murder in prison,\u201d and vowed to hold the junta accountable according to international law.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThis incident involved the killing of many victims, instead of just one or two,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a grave violation of human rights.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Political imprisonment under junta<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Since the 2021 coup, Thailand\u2019s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners has documented more than 25,000 political prisoners jailed by Myanmar\u2019s military regime, which it says is the largest number in the country\u2019s long history of political turmoil.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

According to the Political Prisoners Network \u2013 Myanmar, 34 political prisoners died in prisons nationwide in 2023, 18 of whom were killed and 16 of whom died after being denied access to adequate medical treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The International Federation for Human Rights said in February that \u201cseveral hundred\u201d political prisoners have died in junta custody due to torture, summary executions, restrictions on access to medical treatment, and harsh detention conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n \n \n


\r\nThis content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia<\/a> and was authored by By RFA Burmese.
<\/p>\n

This post was originally published on Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Their families only learned of their deaths after the Red Cross intervened in their case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21984,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42961,2242,44807,42620,77716,3854,44854,4800,1169,1170,785,27149,44683,27150,42674],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1588917"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21984"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1588917"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1588917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1588918,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1588917\/revisions\/1588918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1588917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1588917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1588917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}