According to the data released by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), the number of women political prisoners hit a record under the military council led by General Min Aung Hlaing, who seized power by relying on weapons.
According to AAPP, more than 3,100 women were arrested from last year’s February 1 until August 27 this year, of which more than 2,400 are still in custody and more than 700 have been released.
An official from AAPP noted that under this military regime, more women political prisoners were arrested than during previous coups.
Women from all walks of life joined the revolution against the military dictatorship when the military seized power on the pretext of vote fraud in the 2020 general election. Similarly, women employees in education, health, and other sectors have joined the Non-Violent Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM).
Nang Moh Moh, joint secretary of Women's League of Burma (WLB) said that during the military regime, more women were arrested, and at worst, there were cases of being held as hostages.
Among the women arrested were CDM staff, PDF, activists, female human rights activists, and female journalists. If the authorities could not find the person they were targeting, they arrested the relatives.
After their arrest, women in interrogation centers, prisons, and detention centers are subjected to abuse, sexual assault, and violations of their basic human rights, according to the survivors.
A prisoner who was arrested during a protest in May, last year and imprisoned for 6 months in Insein Prison, who did not want to be named for security reasons, said that the violation of human rights in the prison is unspeakably bad.
Another inmate, who was detained during a protest, charged with 505(a), and later freed on parole after serving 7 months in Insein prison, claimed that the prison did not provide sufficient medical care and that just one medicine was offered for any illness.
According to an advocate, the prison authority is responsible for ensuring all of the prisoners’ basic human rights, including access to healthcare, medication, and other necessities.
However, he added that the current conditions in the prison depend not on legal weakness but on the responsibility of the prison authorities.
Women's rights activists say that the military regime must pay the price in the future for the crimes it committed.
Female guerrilla forces, female military instructors, female soldiers, and female combat supporters are still fighting for federal democracy, human rights, gender equality, and the eradication of patriarchy.
