Senator John McCain (R-AZ) says report shows
torture in Southeast Asian country is “state
policy of Burma’s junta.&quot

For Immediate Release: December 1, 2005
Contacts:
Thailand: Ko Tate (66) 1 287-8751,
Bo Kyi (66) 1 324-8935
Tokyo: Phone Myint Htun (81) 90 4221 1988
Washington, DC: Aung Din (202) 223-0300

(December
1st, 2005; Bangkok, Tokyo, and Washington,
DC) An Asian-based human rights
group today released an authoritative
report detailing the brutal and
systematic torture of political
prisoners that for the first time
specifically names those directly
responsible in Burma’s military
regime, as well was reveals the
“shocking” scale and severity
of the practice.

The 124 page report by the Assistance
Association for Political Prisoners
(AAPPB), “The Darkness We See:
Torture in Burma’s Interrogation
Centers and Prisons” is released
on the heels of an international
push led by former Czech President
Vaclav Havel and South Africa’s
1984 Nobel Peace Prize recipient

Download
Report in PDF (requires
Adobe Acrobat)

Desmond Tutu to place
Burma on the UN Security Council agenda.
The effort has gained support after Burma’s
military regime has refused to implement
a total of 27 UN General Assembly and
UN Commission on Human Rights resolutions
calling for change. The European Parliament
endorsed UN Security Council action two
weeks ago, while U.S. President George
W. Bush pointedly raised Burma on his
recent trip to Asia.

Reacting to the report,
Senator John McCain, whose essay “Torture’s
Terrible Toll” appeared on the cover of
Newsweek Magazine in late November, said
“My heart goes out to those suffering
for their belief in human rights and democracy.
This report demonstrates that torture
of political prisoners is a state policy
of Burma’s junta. All Americans, who
stand by the Burmese people in their aspirations
for freedom, should be outraged.” McCain
went on to say that the report “Illustrates
in painstaking detail yet one more reason
why United Nations Security Council action
is long overdue. Those who care about
human rights and human decency should
press the Security Council to take up
the issue of Burma immediately.”

The evidence in the report is based on
interviews with thirty-five former political
prisoners conducted by AAPP. The report
is divided into sections detailing the
various forms of physical, psychological,
and sexual abuse used by the junta.

The report also explains how deliberately
poor prison conditions combined with purposeful
medical negligence are encouraged and
perpetrated by the junta to cause an aggravated
degree of suffering tantamount to torture.
It concludes that Burma’s prisons have
become institutions whose primary function
is to deliberately and systematically
shatter the identity of political activists
and other civilians deemed threatening
by the junta.
Tactics currently being
used on political prisoners include:

–Severe beatings, often resulting in
loss of consciousness and sometimes death

–Electrocution to all parts of the body
including genitals

–Rubbing iron rods on shins of prisoners
until flesh is ripped off, a tactic known
in Burma as the “iron road”

–Burning with cigarettes and lighters

–Pro-longed restriction of movements,
for up to several months, using rope and
shackles around the neck and ankles

–Repeatedly striking the same area of
a person’s body every second for several
hours, a tactic known in Burma as “tick-tock
torture”

Said Ko Tate, Secretary of the AAPP: “This
report is the first to show the shocking
full scale of torture in Burma´s interrogation
centers and prisons. It should eliminate
any doubt as to the severity of human
rights violations against those suspected
of political dissent in Burma.”

Most political prisoners in Burma are
arrested for publicly expressing or otherwise
indicating opposition to the ruling military
junta. Burma´s most high-profile political
prisoner, Aung San Suu Kyi, is the world´s
only Nobel Peace Prize recipient in detention.
Hundreds of members of her political party,
the National League for Democracy, are
held in prison. Most have been tortured.

The report reveals for the first time
the chain of command and individuals responsible
for torture in Burma. The Minister of
Home Affairs, Minister of Defense, and
Minister of Foreign Affairs all serve
on a three-person committee responsible
for overseeing the detention of prisoners
charged under section 10 (A) and (B) of
the junta’s State Protection Act, which
provides the “legal” basis for which many
prisoners are held. In that capacity,
these individuals are directly responsible
for torture in Burma, in addition to those
serving under them.

Torture carried out during initial interrogations
is carried out mainly by the Military
Intelligence Service, which is under the
Directorate of Defense Services Intelligence,
organized under the Minister of Defense.
Interrogation is additionally conducted
by the Bureau of Special Investigations,
and the Special Investigations Department
(also known as the Special Branch, part
of the Burma Police Force), that report
to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The report recommends that the UN Security
Council should immediately take up issue
of Burma, and calls for UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan’s personal involvement. “We
are pleading for the United Nations to
take meaningful action,” added Ko Tate,
“If not now, when?” The UK, Burma’s former
colonial power, serves as the chair of
the UN Security Council in December.
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