Catholic Institute for International Relations

57th Session of the UNCHR
Geneva, Switzerland.
Oral Intervention 
Item 11(a) Torture and Detention

Mr. Chairman,

I am speaking here on behalf of the Burmese people who are living under the most repressive regime in the world. I am here to specifically speak Burma’s International obligations with regard to torture and detention.

In Burma, political activists, members of ethnic groups and student activists who have been at the forefront of the pro-democracy movement are the main victims of torture and illegal detention in Burma.

Over 1,500 people still remain imprisoned for political reasons. At least 34 Members of Parliament who were elected in the 1990 general elections still remain in prison and 36 MPs have been detained without trial in so-called "government guesthouses" since 1996.

Mr. Chairman,

Human rights violations in Burma have been well documented by international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the ILO and Burmese human rights organizations.

Torture has become an institution in the country. The security forces continue to use torture to extract information, punish, humiliate and control the people. The torture techniques commonly used by the junta’s security forces include: beatings rigorous enough to cause permanent injury, rolling an iron bar up and down the shins until the skin peels off, which is called "The Iron Road"; suspending victims from the ceiling and spinning them around while being beaten is called "The Helicopter"; and "Teik Peik" which involves the victims spending weeks or months in tiny brick cells with little air or light, and being forced to maintain difficult positions for prolonged periods, which is called "The Ponsan".

Moreover, political prisoners are denied adequate food, medical care and sanitation and they get seriously ill because of the harsh prison condition. Although the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been conducting prison visits since May 1999, prison conditions are still extremely poor.

Even though every one of the political prisoners in Burma deserves equal urgent attention, I here want to draw your attention to some individual cases which need immediate care. One of them is Min Ko Naing, a student leader who was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in 1989 for his peaceful political activities for democracy and human rights. He is the political prisoner who has been detained for the longest period of time in Burma. For most of his imprisonment, he has been held in complete solitary confinement.

He is currently held at Sittwe (Sittway) Prison in Rakhine State. He has been seriously tortured and ill-treated in detention. His health condition is deteriorating day by day and if urgent medical care is not given, he could soon be paralyzed. He is suffering from the physical and emotional effects of torture and solitary confinement. One prisoner who was released in December last year from the same prison described his condition in these words: "He has to totally depend on the iron railings in the prison to walk even a few steps and he is suffering from severe pains of his lower body due to various ways of torture".

Another prisoner of conscience who needs urgent medical care is U Tin Htun, who is serving a 20 years sentence at Thayet Prison in Upper Burma on charges of possessing and distributing illegal political journals and having contact with exiled opposition groups. He is suffering from hypertension, heart disease and mental health problems, yet he is receiving no medical treatment.

Mr. Chairman,

As you all know, our most respected leader and Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi continues to remain under illegal detention and is denied elementary human rights.

In conclusion, I would like to state that torture and illegal detention continue to occur throughout Burma and the ruling military junta continues to violate international human rights standards with impunity. On behalf of the people of Burma, I would like to appeal to the UN Commission on Human Rights to take urgent action for the release of all political prisoners, an end to illegal detention and a halt to all the human rights violations in Burma.

Thank you.