"Eight Seconds of Silence" [1]

Please see attached file for full report of "Eight Seconds of Silence "

- The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said in a 148-page report that the deaths since 1988 of the activists were "a result of torture or ill-treatment" by agents of the ruling military junta.

- Currently, there are at least 1,156 political prisoners in Burma, according to the report.

- Eight is a sentimental number for Burma's political activists, based on a democracy uprising in the country on August 8, 1988, which was brutally suppressed by the the military regime.

"Eight Seconds of Silence "

New Report Details Deaths of 127 Burmese Democracy Activists in Custody
AAPP Calls for UN Security Council Action in Burma

Media 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

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)

PO Box 93
Mae Sot
Tak Province
63110
Thailand
Contact by email at aappb@cscoms.com
 

"Eight Seconds of Silence"
New Report Details Deaths of 127 Burmese Democracy Activists in Custody
AAPP Calls for UN Security Council Action in Burma

Embargoed until May 23, 2006

(Thailand, London and Washington, DC) The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) (AAPP) today released a 148 page report detailing the deaths of 127 democracy activists in custody in Burma.

The report, entitled Eight Seconds of Silence: The Death of Democracy Activists Behind Bars, notes that all the deaths were a result of torture or ill-treatment, and comes at a time when deaths of democracy activists behind bars have been increasing significantly. In 2005 and early 2006 alone, ten activists have died from torture and ill-treatment while in custody.

The AAPP submits this report along with The Darkness We See: Torture in Burmas Interrogation Centers and Prisons, a landmark report on the use of torture in Burma released by the AAPP last December, to the newly-established UN Human Rights Council, which will convene its first meeting on June 19, 2006 in Geneva, through the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Ms. Louise Arbour. The AAPP expects the human rights violations perpetrated by the brutal junta, and the deepening political and social crises in Burma, to be a test case for the Human Rights Council, which has replaced the much-criticized and ineffective UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR). Despite the 13 consecutive resolutions on Burma the UNHCR adopted, it was unable to make the Burmese junta comply with any of them.

Since 1988, at least 127 democracy activists have died in custody. 90 of these deaths have been in the prisons, 8 in the interrogation centers, 4 in the labor camps and 10 shortly after release. Further, 15 cases of disappearances have been documented as well. Though the AAPP has documented 127 cases of death in custody, there are likely numerous more cases of death. Even those cases documented are not complete due to the current political situation in the country. Only when Burma is free and democratic will the full extent of the regimes crimes be known.

Thus, the AAPP is calling on the UN Security Council to adopt a binding resolution on Burma to empower the Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his efforts to facilitate national reconciliation and democratization in Burma.

"As the report shows, many courageous Burmese have been willing to risk torture and death rather than renounce their beliefs or give up their non-violent struggle" says Tom Malinowski, Washington Advocacy Director of Human Rights Watch. "The report rightly urges the UN Security Council to become engaged on Burma...The Burmese government's policies clearly threaten the Burmese peoples; they also threaten the stability of Burma's neighbors and thus merit Security Council action"

Currently, there are 1,156 political prisoners in Burma, all of whom face potential torture and ill-treatment, and possible death.

"Nothing is more revealing about the situation of human rights in a country than the existence of political prisoners?In recognition and fulfillment of its pledge first made fifteen years ago and repeatedly since, to honor the political will of the people of Myanmar, the release of all remaining political prisoners will signal the preparedness of the Government to now rise to its outstanding responsibility. Once freed, they could have a decisive role in Myanmars long-anticipated transition to democracy. The postponement of democratic reform can be justified no longer." says Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma, who has monitored the situation in Burma for six years.

Eight Seconds of Silence looks for the first time at the aftermath of democracy activists' deaths. In Burma, when a democracy activist dies behind bars, their corpse is sometimes cremated and buried with out the consent of the family. This is done in order to hide the true circumstances of the death. Family members are often offered bribes to remain silence about the deaths of their loved ones.

When a family is allowed to bury their loved ones, they still must adhere to the orders of the authorities. The authorities are known to set arbitrary funeral dates for deceased political prisoners, leaving some family members unable to attend the funeral. Military Intelligence infiltrates many funerals, taking note of those who attend so that they can be detained and interrogated at a later time.

The cause of death for political prisoners is never truthfully recorded. The authorities pressure doctors to falsify autopsy reports, and then use these reports to explain away any accusations of torture and ill-treatment. Because families have no independent witnesses or verification of the cause of their loved one's death, they are unable to contest the authorities' explanation.

The military regime's oppression extends even into death.

"We have released this report to expose the true circumstances of our colleague's deaths. They are modern day martyrs in the struggle to free Burma," says Tate Naing, Secretary of the AAPP, "Though this report exposes the brutality that has led to the deaths of democracy activists, it also shows the courage of these fallen men and women. While they did not live to see the realization of their dream, their memory is carried in the hearts of those who continue to struggle for the realization of a free Burma." 

(1) Rights Group Highlights Death Risk of Myanmar's Political Prisoners; AFP and Today Online

(2) '127 activists die in Burmese custody'; Ireland Online

(3) More Dying in Political Prisons, Says Report; The Irrawaddy

(1) Rights Group Highlights Death Risk of Myanmar's Political Prisoners

An Asian human rights group said it had documented the deaths of 127 democracy activists in custody in Myanmar and warned that more than 1,000 political prisoners risked the same fate.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said in a 148-page report that the deaths since 1988 of the activists were "a result of torture or ill-treatment" by agents of the ruling military junta.

In the report, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the state of human rights in Myanmar, demanded an independent enquiry by the junta into the rising number of deaths of political prisoners.

"I believe that it is now time for the international community to urge the government to establish an independent enquiry into the rapidly mounting deaths of political prisoners in Myanmar," he said in a foreword.

"Such an investigation should seek the accountability of those responsible and compensation for the victims' families," he said." It should also include the cases of disappearances," said Pinheiro, who had visited and reported regularly on the plight of political prisoners in Myanmar until November 2003. He has since been refused entry into the country.

The AAPP report came three days after the junta, in a surprise move, allowed top UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari to see Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon for about one hour.

The junta set up the meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent more than 10 of the last 17 years under house arrest, in an attempt to block increasing calls for UN Security Council action on the regime for alleged human rights abuses, among other reasons.

Currently, there are at least 1,156 political prisoners in Myanmar.

"Several are in poor and rapidly deteriorating health, and many are at risk for torture," the AAPP report said. "If they are not released immediately, they will face the same fate as those who have died in custody." The report noted that that the deaths of democracy activists behind bars had been "increasing significantly."

In the last year alone, 10 activists died from torture and ill-treatment while in custody, said the report, entitled "Eight Seconds of Silence: The Death of Democracy Activists behind Bars."

Eight is a sentimental number for Myanmar's political activists, based on a democracy uprising in the country on August 8, 1988, which was brutally suppressed by the military regime.

"We have released this report to expose the true circumstances of our colleague's deaths. They are modern day martyrs in the struggle to free Burma," AAPP's Secretary Tate Naing said.

Of the 127 deaths, 90 have occurred in prisons, eight in interrogation centers, four in labor camps and 10 shortly after release, the report said. A further 15 cases of disappearances have been documented as well, it said. "There are likely numerous more cases of death. Only when Myanmar is free and democratic will the full extent of the regimes crimes be known," it said.

Aung Din, co-founder of the US Campaign for Burma dissident group and a former tortured political prisoner, believes that at least 1,000 democracy activists could have died in custody since 1988.

"Every military outpost in Burma has its own detention center where there is torture and deaths; we are unable to keep count. There are some who never reach the prisons," he said. Since January 2006, the International Committee of the Red Cross has not been allowed to make independent and confidential visits to places of detention in Myanmar.

(2) '127 activists die in Burmese custody'; Ireland Online

At least 127 pro-democracy activists have died in the custody of Burmas ruling junta, most of them after torture and ill-treatment in the countrys network of prisons and interrogation centers, a report by an opposition group released today said.

The Thailand-based group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma, said it was submitting the report as a test case to the newly established UN Human Rights Council, which is to hold its first meeting June 19 in Geneva.

The council replaces the widely criticized UN Commission on Human Rights.

The association, made up of former political prisoners who fled the country, said 90 of the 127 died in prisons, eight in interrogation centers, four in labor camps and 10 shortly after being released. Another 15 disappeared while in custody.

There were likely many more cases of deaths since 1998, when the current junta seized power after brutally crushing mass pro-democracy demonstrations led by Aung San Suu Kyi, it said.

(3) More Dying in Political Prisons, Says Report; The Irrawaddy

The number of political activists dying in harsh Burmese prison conditions is increasing, says a Thailand-based human rights advocacy group.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) said in a report published on Monday that nine jailed democracy supporters have died since early 2005. It said the increased number of deaths in custody in the past year reflects a rise in torture and ill-treatment.

The 148-page report, Eight Seconds of Silence: The Death of Democracy Activists Behind Bars, records all the known cases of political prisoners who have died in custody since 1988. It details the names, stories and fate of 127 democracy activists90 have died in prisons, 8 in interrogation centers, 4 in labor camps and 10 shortly after being freed from jail.

Eight seconds is a reference to the pro-democracy uprising on August 8, 1988, that was quelled by government troops. The secretary of AAPPB, Tate Naing, told The Irrawaddy: This report exposes the brutality that has led to the death of democracy activists.

The report highlights the case of Aung Hlaing Win, a member of the National League for Democracy, who died in custody last year. Independent doctors found injuries consistent with torture on his body, but the Burmese authorities informed his family he died from a heart attack.

Torture is state policy in Burma, said Tate Naing. But no legal action has ever been taken to hold them accountable.

AAPPB says the families of political prisoners are usually informed of a death in custody only after the authorities have cremated the body. Officials pressure medical workers into falsifying the cause of death and family members have been offered bribes to remain silent.

Tom Malinowski, of the Washington-based Human Rights Watch, writes in a foreword to the report: Its members [democracy activists] have been ruthlessly persecuted, many killed, others imprisoned or forced into exile.

The AAPPB has urged the UN Security Council to empower the Secretary-General to press for national reconciliation and democratization in Burma. We strongly believe that taking effective measures to end arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment behind bars is an essential for first step in the process of national reconciliation and democratization, said Tate Naing.

[1] The report's title refers to the eight seconds of silence generally observed at the funerals of democracy activists who have died since the 1988 pro-democracy uprising.