On August 19, 2024, an argument erupted when female political prisoners in Daik-U Prison made a complaint to a Ward Officer regarding the inappropriate nature of male prison staff frequenting the bathing area while female political prisoners were bathing. The argument resulted in female prisoners being shot with slingshots, leaving eight with life-threatening injuries, while also injuring several others. On the night of August 20, prison authorities, including male staff, reportedly entered the female ward of the prison, fully armed with guns, rubber sticks, tasers, and slingshots.

The oppression of female political prisoners by male prison authorities, coupled with armed nighttime incursions into the female ward, to this day, raises significant concerns for the safety and lives of these women.

Moreover, on June 15, 2024, more than 40 female political prisoners from Kyaikmaraw Prison were transferred to Daik-U Prison. Following their transfer, Daik-U Prison authorities allegedly found drugs and illegal items, leading to a violent crackdown where they opened fire with firearms and slingshots, hurled bricks at the female ward and carried out beatings. Female political prisoners were consequently injured yet were locked up for several days without being given medical treatment.

In another case, documentary film maker and political prisoner, Phay Maung Sein, passed away at Sakura Hospital in Yangon City on August 19 at 2 p.m. He had suffered broken ribs during interrogation and was not given adequate medical treatment. Phay Maung Sein had also contracted bone tuberculosis and was transferred to Insein Hospital, only when his condition had severely deteriorated. While receiving medical treatment at Insein Hospital, he was kept in leg shackles. He was released on August 16, just before his death, when it was too late to save him. His untimely death occurred on August 19 due to his untreatable condition.

Much like the experience of Phay Maung Sein, there have been at least (101) cases of political prisoners losing their lives due to a lack of proper medical care.

We remain committed to our efforts of documenting and identifying those responsible for the torture of political prisoners in various forms, in order to ensure they are held accountable for their crimes. We vow to do our best to seek justice for the sacrifices that political prisoners have and continue to make and the suffering they have endured.

Our revolution must prevail.
Our justice must be realized!

Joint Organizations

– Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
– Former Political Prisoners Society
– Political Prisoners Network (Myanmar)
– Women Organization for Political Prisoners (WOPP)
– ထောင်ဝင်စာပို့ကြမယ်
– နွေဦးတမာန် နိုင်/ကျဉ်းကူညီရေးအဖွဲ့

Download the statement