Location of Arrested Activists Remains Unknown

By Khun Sam
September 4, 2007

The whereabouts of many of Burma's leading pro-democracy activists, arrested following the recent crackdown on demonstrations, remains a mystery, according to sources close to those arrested.

“We are not sure where they are now, though some people suggest they might be in Insein Prison,” said Han Thar Myint, a spokesperson for the opposition party National League for Democracy, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.

At least 131 people have been arrested following a series of demonstrations throughout the country against a sharp rise in fuel prices, according to the Thailand-based Burmese rights group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Tate Naing, the secretary of the AAPP, said he had heard unconfirmed reports that detainees were being moved out of the infamous Insein Prison to other locations.

"We have no idea where they are now,” Tate Naing said.
Some sources suggested that a group of detainees are at a detention center on the Kyaikkasan sport grounds.

Insein Prison, located in northern Rangoon, is the regime’s most notorious prison. Burma is believed to have about 1,100 political prisoners throughout the country.

During the protests, the junta's support groups, the Union Solidarity Development Association and the paramilitary group Swan Arr Shin, violently broke up peaceful demonstrations.

Many fellow activists, including the prominent activist Su Su Nway, are in hiding.

International governments and Burmese exiled rights groups have condemned the military government for its violent attacks and the arrests of peaceful demonstrators and called for the release of all activist detainees.

Tate Naing said the health of detained activists is of great concern.

“We believe they are now suffering mentally and physically from interrogation," he said. "I want to urge Burmese citizens and the international community to put pressure on the junta for the release of detainees.”

Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed reports that some detainees have staged a hunger strike to protest the authority’s refusal to treat Ye Thein Naing, a demonstrator whose leg was broken after he was beaten, punched and dragged into a truck by pro-junta thugs.