Myanmar: Political prisoners tortured and killed with impunity while journalists and social media activists remain at risk

Myanmar’s civic space is rated ‘closed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor. Since the 2021 coup, thousands of activists and protesters have been detained on fabricated charges including terrorism, incitement and sedition. Many have been convicted by secret military tribunals in unfair trials and given harsh sentences, including the death penalty. Some have been tortured or killed. There has also been an unrelenting crackdown on the media and civil society.

More than three years on from the coup, the assault on civic space by the junta has persisted. In a report released in February 2024, the CIVICUS Monitor documented the ongoing criminalisation of activists and protesters, the silencing of journalists and increasing control of the media, the targeting of lawyers and torture and ill-treatment of political prisoners. Other violations include digital repression, the blocking of humanitarian workers and continued violations against the Rohingya.

In February 2024, the junta announced compulsory military service for all young men and women. The move will require all men aged 18-35, and women aged 18-27, to serve at least two years under military command. Individuals face prison sentences of up to five years, hefty fines, or both, for failing to report for duty. Civil society groups have slammed the use of forced conscription.

UN bodies have continued to raise concerns about the situation in Myanmar. On 30th January, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement that three years after the coup nearly 26,000 people have been arrested, of whom 19,973 remain in detention, some reportedly subjected to torture and abuses, and with no hope of a fair trial. Some 1,576 individuals have died while being held by the junta. In March 2024, Türk reported to the Human Rights Council that among other violations was the systemic use of torture against political detainees in police stations, military interrogation centres and prisons.

On 6th February 2024, nine member states of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), including three permanent members, called on the junta to cease its attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure and release all political prisoners including President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar in his report to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2024 stated that prisons have been expanded since the coup to continue to detain political prisoners. Many have been tried in military tribunals or courts set up within prisons and the sentences handed down have been extremely harsh. Many political prisoners have been sentenced to hard labour and he continues to receive reports of torture and ill-treatment of political prisoners.

On 27th March 2024, the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar released two analytical reports. One report details the Myanmar military’s covert Facebook network that systematically distributed hate speech against the Rohingya at the time of the 2017 clearance operations. The second report examines the response of Myanmar state authorities to allegations of sexual and gender-based crimes committed by security forces against the Rohingya.

On 4th April 2024, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on Myanmar by consensus that for the first time calls on UN member states to refrain from the export, sale or transfer of jet fuel to the junta.

States have also continued to impose sanctions on the junta. In February 2024, Australia imposed additional targeted sanctions on five entities with direct links to the Myanmar military regime including two banks and three entities that supply jet fuel to the junta. The United States imposed further sanctions against four individuals and two entities associated with the junta while the UK imposed sanctions on military divisions and two state-owned enterprises affiliated with the junta.

ASEAN countries on the other hand have continued to pursue the failed Five Point Consensus despite the junta showing no interest in adhering to it. Even worse, the ASEAN chairmanship, currently held by Laos, has evidently sought to bring Myanmar back to meetings despite an agreement that barred top-level generals from participating.

In recent months, there have been reports of political prisoners being killed or the failure to provide adequate medical treatment. Others have faced torture and ill-treatment, which is widespread and systematic. There have also been reports of transnational repression. Journalists and media outlets continue to be targeted, with one detained journalist found dead in Rakhine state. Those speaking up online have also been criminalised.

Association

Political prisoners killed by the junta

There have been continued reports of political prisoners held by the junta who have died in detention with no one held accountable for these crimes.

In February 2024, prominent activists Ma Noble Aye and Ko Lay Khwin from Yangon were reportedly shot dead by junta troops on the way back from a court appearance in Waw Township, Bago Region. They were detained for allegedly carrying weapons for resistance forces. The junta claimed they attempted to escape. Their bodies were taken to Waw Hospital and disposed of without informing their families.

Ma Noble Aye was known for her lifelong dedication to human rights and democracy. The 49-year-old was jailed twice, first in 1998 for protesting against the then regime and sentenced to 42 years in prison. She was released under an amnesty in 2005 and then jailed again in 2007 for participation in the so-called Saffron Revolution.

Previously, in January 2024, a university student died in a prison in central Myanmar. Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that Su May Aung died in Magway Prison after receiving poor medical treatment and not having access to medication for chronic illnesses. She had been in jail for nearly two years and was sentenced in early 2022 to 15 years’ jail under Section 50j of the country’s notorious Counterterrorism Law for financing terrorism, a common charge for civilians donating to resistance groups. Su May Aung was a student at Magway University and opposed the military coup as part of the Civil Disobedience Movement after the junta seized power.

In February 2024, RFA reported that junta troops had shot and killed seven people, including Kyaw Zan Wai, also known as Phoe La Pyae, a rapper who was popular for criticising the junta through jokes on Facebook.

RFA reported that junta soldiers had killed two political prisoners after secretly removing them from a prison in southern Myanmar. Troops took 25-year-old Min Thu and 35-year-old Ko Win Thiha from Tanintharyi division’s Dawei Prison with black hoods over their heads on the night of 17th March 2024. Both were arrested under the country’s anti-terrorism act, a set of broad laws that cover many actions related to opposing the military junta.

On 29th March 2024, activist Aung Kyaw Zaw was tortured to death. He was arrested in November 2021 after an alleged mission in Monywa and sentenced to 30 years in jail under the Counterterrorism Law. Along with another political detainee, he intervened while police officers were beating a political prisoner and the pair were sent to a military interrogation centre where Aung Kyaw Zaw was tortured to death.

According to a Myanmar Political Prisoners Network, 34 political prisoners died in jail in 2023. Among them, 18 were killed by the junta and 16 people died as a result of medical neglect.

Torture and il-treatment of political prisoners

There are also continued reports of torture and ill-treatment of political prisoners with impunity. According to the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, evidence available indicates that acts of torture and ill-treatment by the junta are widespread and systematic and likely constitute crimes against humanity.

In addition to suffering beatings and other forms of torture experienced by other political prisoners, women and people with diverse gender identities regularly experience forms of abuse and deprivation linked to their gender and sexual orientations while in custody.

RFA reported in January 2024 that political prisoners in Obo Prison are routinely tortured and beaten to the point of requiring hospitalisation. Some have been subjected to solitary confinement in leg cuffs for more than two years. Seven political prisoners, Aung Myin Wai, Myo Myanmar, Thura, Myo Zarchi, Myo Myat Htike, Kyaw Ye Aung and Pili, were taken to hospital after they were tortured by being held in solitary confinement in leg cuffs for more than two years.

In March 2024, 20 people, including political prisoners, were beaten and placed in solitary confinement in Tanintharyi Region’s Dawei Prison after the facility’s authorities allegedly discovered mobile phones in their possession. Those determined to be the owners of the devices in question were beaten, some to the point of having their bones broken, before being isolated from the rest of the prison population.

In April 2024, at least seven political prisoners were reportedly beaten by a combined force of guards, police and soldiers at Pyapon Prison in Ayeyarwady Region following a protest. They were so severely injured that they could not walk. The injuries include head wounds and swollen limbs. The seven political prisoners had six months added to their sentences. The protest started after a guard yelled and cursed at a political prisoner.

Transnational repression of activists

In March 2024, the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar stated he had received reports of the junta cancelling the passports of perceived political opponents residing abroad, disrupting their ability to travel and raising concerns about their legal status in other countries.

Known activists and opposition figures face grave security risks even outside Myanmar. The Special Rapporteur has frequently heard concerns about the operations of SAC intelligence agents operating in other countries.

The junta has at times also arrested or harassed family members remaining in Myanmar. Activists and human rights defenders who have fled Myanmar have frequently told the Special Rapporteur about their concerns for their family members at home. The junta has also seized the homes and assets of those who have fled abroad and has frozen their bank accounts.

Expression

Journalists and media outlets continue to be targeted

Journalists and media outlets have continued to be targeted by the junta. Myanmar has become the second-worst jailer of journalists, with 43 media staff arrested in 2023, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) reported in January 2024 that 192 media staff have been arrested since the 2021 coup.

In March 2024, the editor-in-chief of People Media was charged with ‘incitement’ following critical comments he made in a livestream video – the first time an employee of a pro-junta news outlet has faced legal action by the junta. Kyaw Soe Oo’s comments found fault with the Ministry of Home Affairs for not sending any senior police officials to attend the funeral of an officer who was recently killed in Kachin state.

Police arrested Kyaw Soe Oo the same day. After his arrest, Kyaw Soe Oo underwent two days of interrogation before he was formally charged under Section 505(a) of the penal code. The provision has been routinely used by the military junta to target critics of the regime. Kyaw Soe Oo was then sent to Nay Pyi Taw prison.

Journalist Myat Thu Tan, also known as Phoe Thiha, was shot by two personnel from the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 378 in a detainment ward in Mrauk-U Town, in Rakhine state. Myat Thu Tan was a contributor with online media outlet Western News as well as a reporter for Democratic Voice of Burma, one of the country’s largest independent media organisations.

The journalist’s body was discovered buried in a bomb shelter in the battalion’s headquarters near the town’s hospital on 5th February 2024. Local media reported the body found at the scene showed signs of torture. He had been charged with ‘incitement’ by the junta under its amended Section 505(a) of the country’s Penal Code.

According to Athan Myanmar, the licences of two publishing houses, Toemyit and Lapyae Lin Publishing, were revoked by the military junta’s Ministry of Information on 27th January 2024. The junta accused these publishing houses of violating section 8(b) of the Printing and Publishing Enterprise Law, which punishes those who “show things which can harass national security, rules of law, public order or the rights of every citizen such as equality, freedom and balance of law”.

Over a thousand arrested in social media crackdown

Myanmar junta authorities have arrested and jailed nearly 1,500 people they say posted anti-junta messages on Facebook, TikTok and Telegram over the last two years, research group Data for Myanmar has found.

The Data for Myanmar report said that most of the 1,480 people detained between 29th February 2022, and 30th January 2024 were Facebook users. The NGO also found that an average of 62 people were detained every month. Almost half of the detainees – nearly 700 people – were from the Yangon and Mandalay regions.

Data for Myanmar compiled data for the report by monitoring junta-affiliated daily newspapers and news media.

Three arrested over anti-junta ‘silent strike’ in Mandalay

RFA Burmese reported that authorities in Myanmar’s second city, Mandalay, arrested at least three people in February 2024 for taking part in a “silent strike” protesting the third anniversary of military rule.

People in Myanmar staged a nationwide silent strike, foregoing work and staying inside their homes to demonstrate their opposition to the 1st February 2021 coup that saw the military seize control of the country.

The protest was held from 10 am to 4 pm in several major cities, including the commercial capital Yangon, and marked by noticeably reduced vehicle and foot traffic, while security appeared heightened, following the deployment of additional junta troops and security vehicles.

Among those arrested was Kyaw Soe Oo, a 48-year-old English teacher, who joined the silent strike and posted a message on his Facebook account urging people to stay at home after 10 am.