Female political prisoners endure solitary confinement, diminished food provisions, sexual harassments, and other rights infringements, alongside denial of healthcare.
Ma Zin May Thet, the information officer for the Women's Organization of Political Prisoners (WOPP), revealed instances of oppression endured by certain female political prisoners, including humiliating experiences like being stripped and examined in front of fellow female inmates, even during menstruation.
Following an announcement that only family members would be permitted to visit inmates at jails under the Prisons Department from May 22, the oppression of political prisoners within the facilities escalated, according to prison sources.
Human rights violations are rampant in approximately 10 prisons, including Insein, Daik-U, Thayarwaddy, Yamethin, Myingyan, Kyaikmaraw, Dawei, and Mandalay aka Obo, the latter being notorious for its extreme brutalities.
According to WOPP, female political prisoners in Mandalay Central Prison, also known as Obo Prison, they endure electric shocks from tasers, severe beatings with iron rods and batons resulting in blood-soaked injuries, lack of medical care, cut off food provisions, and prolonged solitary confinement.
"Our main priority right now is to provide menstrual products for women in prisons. When women seek medical attention due to poor health and return to their cells, they undergo thorough searches, which amount to sexual harassment. These searches are usually conducted by female prison wardens. There have been cases of strip searches performed in front of other female prisoners”, Ma Zin May Thet added.
Letters sent by family members to inmates also undergo a rigorous screening process, with only one-third of them ultimately reaching the intended recipients.
During the trials of female political prisoners detained before sentencing, their lawyers faced oppression, threats, restrictions on communication with the defendant, and even instances of being threatened at gunpoint.
Since the Junta's coup on February 1, 2021, until May 27, 2024, a total of 26747 individuals have been arrested as political prisoners, with 20499 still held in custody, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
