Military prevents reintegration of political prisoners

Summary

This report to the UN exposes the military’s deliberate policy of preventing the reintegration of political prisoners. Instead of rehabilitation, the military regime enforces surveillance, harassment, economic exclusion, and family disruption to keep former detainees marginalised and politically silenced. It calls for international accountability and support for independent reintegration efforts to counter the regime’s systematic repression.

Myanmar’s political and legal landscape has been marked since the 2021 military coup by the absence of genuine democratic institutions and the rule of law. Arbitrary detentions and politically motivated imprisonments are routine, rendering any notion of reintegration illusory. Unlike democracies with rehabilitative policies, Myanmar employs punitive measures to marginalise further former detainees, particularly those imprisoned for political crimes. This report responds to the OHCHR call for information on State rehabilitation policies by exposing the military’s deliberate policy of non-integration of political prisoners and its active campaign of post-detention harassment.

Detention practices

Since the military coup, widespread human rights abuses have become endemic. The military’s detention apparatus is marked by opacity, the absence of independent judicial oversight, and frequent extrajudicial measures.^[1] Political dissent is met with vague, politically motivated, or unfounded charges.^[2] Thousands of journalists, activists, politicians, protesters, and dissenting individuals have been detained as political prisoners, with the consequences of incarceration extending far beyond the prison walls.^[3] Legal guarantees are routinely ignored, and the lack of any reintegration framework reinforces a cycle of continuous surveillance, marginalisation, and repression. Former political prisoners are left without support to rebuild their lives, directly contravening international legal obligations and further entrenching State repressive practices. The military does not want former political prisoners to reintegrate, and actively works to prevent it.

Non-reintegration policies

In democratic societies, reintegration is facilitated by policies offering vocational training, healthcare, and legal assistance to restore dignity and foster active civic participation. In Myanmar, however, the legislative framework remains silent on reintegration. This deliberate neglect is not an oversight—it is a calculated decision that keeps former political prisoners vulnerable and isolated. Released individuals are forced to navigate non-reintegration policies that create a hostile environment, reinforcing perpetual marginalisation.

The denial of support deprives former political prisoners of opportunities to rebuild their lives, participate in public affairs, and contribute to society. This systemic neglect violates fundamental human rights—including the rights to work, education, and an adequate standard of living—and extends State repression through a cycle of exclusion and disempowerment.

Conditions of release

Political prisoners in Myanmar are released not through a transparent judicial process but as a result of external pressures or tactical moves by the military regime. These releases occur under ambiguous circumstances that leave individuals uncertain about their legal status and discourage reintegration.

Conditions imposed upon release are designed to maintain military control. Political prisoners are often forced to sign agreements not to oppose the military, often without being allowed to review the terms before signing. Some political prisoners, such as journalists, are coerced into signing agreements not to continue their previous work. Political prisoners are warned that breaking the conditions will result in being reincarcerated for double the time in their previous convictions.

The military’s policy of imposing harsh, threatening, and unlawful conditions of release violates multiple rights and, rather than improve the potential for future reintegration, immediately places serious obstacles before former political prisoners that make rehabilitation more difficult.

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