Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03RANGOON773
2003-06-27 06:30:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Rangoon
Cable title:  

CONDITIONS IN INSEIN PRISON

Tags:  PHUM PGOV BM 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000773 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP AND DRL
CDR USPACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/27/2013
TAGS: PHUM PGOV BM
SUBJECT: CONDITIONS IN INSEIN PRISON

REF: A. (A) RANGOON 377

B. (B) RANGOON 724

Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez. Reason: 1.5 (d).

(C)
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000773

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP AND DRL
CDR USPACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/27/2013
TAGS: PHUM PGOV BM
SUBJECT: CONDITIONS IN INSEIN PRISON

REF: A. (A) RANGOON 377

B. (B) RANGOON 724

Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez. Reason: 1.5 (d).

(C) 1. Summary: According to a report from a recently
released inmate, conditions in Burma's Insein prison have
deteriorated badly following the discovery of a microphone in
a room being used by UN Special Rapporteur Pinheiro for
interviews with inmates in March (reftel A). The prison
warden at Insein was replaced immediately following that
incident and the new warden has imposed a new, and far
harsher, regime which has rolled back many of the
improvements introduced by ICRC since 1999. TVs, newspapers
and all writing materials and writing implements have been
taken away, and socializing is strictly controlled. Food,
sanitation and health conditions remain poor, security has
increased and prisoners are now regularly subjected to
punishing physical exercises, and beaten. Political
prisoners are segregated from the general prison population,
but there are indications that some may have been abused,
including some who may have been in Aung San Suu Kyi's convoy
on May 30. We have passed a copy of the report to ICRC.
They have confirmed that the warden at Insein Prison was
replaced following the incident with Special Rapporteur
Pinheiro. They have also promised to investigate conditions
at Insein when they next visit, probably in July. End Summary.


2. (C) The following is an edited version of the former
inmate's report.

The former inmate is not a political prisoner. He was
arrested by the police in August 2002 and was locked up in
Insein prison until he was released on bail in March 2003. He
met with ICRC during ICRC's prison visit in November 2002.
After ICRC,s visit, the warden of Insein prison improved the
facilities and arranged some entertainment programs for the
prisoners. The improved system lasted until March 2003, when
the incident occurred with Special Rapporteur Pinheiro
(reftel A). The authorities immediately changed the prison
warden on the grounds that he had damaged the image of the
government.

The inmate was rearrested and sent back to the Insein prison
in June 2003. He found that the prison had changed totally.
Security was much tighter. He and other inmates were

searched thoroughly, and the snacks he brought with him were
taken away by the prison authorities. He was also ordered to
leave all papers, pens, books, and other items at the gate.
On their first day, the new inmates were made to sit on the
wet ground in the rain, while the new warden laid down the
rules for prison operations. In his speech, the warden told
them that they were there because they are criminals and that
the prison authorities would treat them like criminals. The
authorities did not care about ICRC, the warden said. The
world community may say the condition of this jail is poor
but "we do not care" because this is prison -- a place to
keep criminals like them. The warden also warned that if
inmates tell anyone about happenings within the prison, they
will suffer severe punishment and will spend the rest of
their life in the prison, regardless of their current
sentences.

The inmate said that all inmates are now obliged to fall in
and perform &ponsan8 -- punishing physical exercises --
each morning. This practice had been stopped following
ICRC's visit November 2002, but was resumed in June. If the
inmates could not perform according to order, they were
beaten with rough batons. Since June 12, the new warden has
also banned all TVs and newspapers from the prison. No
prisoner is now allowed to carry a ball pen, a piece of paper
or anything that can be used to write.

Health and sanitation conditions are also poor. Many inmates
who suffer from communicable diseases such as tuberculosis,
hepatitis B; etc. remain in the general prison population;
they have not been segregated. Toilets are in poor shape and
little water is available for bathing. Food is also poor.
For lunch, inmates get a bowl of thin bean soup and a plate
of rice. For dinner, they get a bowl of &Yay-Baw-Law,8 a
kind of prison soup composed of herbs and vegetables found in
the prison courtyard, a small portion of &Ngapi8 (fish
paste - sometimes with &maggots8) and a plate of rice. The
rice was generally full of crushed rice, husks and stones.
Socializing has also been restricted. There is no
entertainment, all prison visits are monitored, and all
packages brought to the prison are screened thoroughly by
plain-clothes security personnel. The prison has also now
forbidden inmates to sit or talk together in groups of more
than four; any inmates found sitting together in larger
groups are beaten.

Political Prisoners

Political prisoners are kept in a special barracks next to
the barracks in which the inmate was kept. The whole
building is built of concrete and well protected by walls so
that nobody can see the political prisoners and their
activities. The barracks are divided into cells that can
house two or three persons. At present, however, there were
8 to 10 persons in a cell. Altogether, there are an
estimated 230 inmates in the barracks for political
prisoners. The political prisoners' barracks has a small
courtyard and, unlike the other barracks, does have a bathing
hall and a walking place where the political prisoners are
allowed to walk in the early morning. Occasionally inmates
see political prisoners, in hoods to conceal their
identities, dragged from the political prisoners barracks to
the prison hospital. On the third day of his detention, the
inmate himself saw seven hooded prisoners dragged to the
hospital by prison officials. When he asked one of the
prison guards who the prisoners were, he was told that they
were the &problem makers who went along with Suu Kyi.8 He
also heard that there is a special &bungalow8 next to the
political prisoners' barracks where Aung San Suu Kyi is
supposed to be detained, but is not sure that that is true.
(Note: However, this information correlates with reftel B,
para. 2 regarding the special "bungalow" built for Aung San
Suu Kyi within Insein.) The inmate also said that the prison
wards are now watched not only by prison guards, but also
plain clothes personnel.


3. (C) Comment: We will have to wait until ICRC visits Insein
before judging whether all the details in this report are
accurate. However, it does have the ring of truth. It would
make sense for the authorities to tighten security and
discipline following the incident with Pinheiro. That would
be even more true if NLD members who were picked up following
the attack in Depeyin were lodged at Insein. Whatever the
reason for the crackdown, however, it does appear that the
GOB may have begun to roll back, at least at Insein prison,
reforms encouraged by ICRC following its 1999 to 2002 prison
visits. If so, it would be one more setback for
international efforts to improve human rights in Burma. End
Summary.
Martinez