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POLITICAL PRISONER DEVELOPS PSYCHOL



Media Release
Date: July 13, 1998

                                    
            BURMA POLITICAL PRISONER DEVELOPS PSYCHOLOGICAL 
                         PROBLEMS AFTER BEATINGS

According to sources in Rangoon, a political prisoner who was
released last month from Taungoo Prison north of the capital, has
developed psychological problems due to severe beatings while in
prison.

Aung Khaing, 38, a graduate of Rangoon Institute of Technology
(RIT), was severely beaten on his head by prison warders in March
1996 for refusing to go into his cell. At the time of the
beating, Aung Khaing was suffering from dysentery and asked for a
cup of rice porridge. Prison authorities repeatedly refused his
request. Later, Aung Khaing tried to get some porridge himself
but he was accused of inciting a political movement in prison and
was again severely beaten. 

The incidents took place after Aung Khaing was transferred in
February 1995 from Insein Prison in Rangoon to Taungoo Prison,
which is situated in Pegu Division.

Aung Khaing developed psychological problems after the beatings
and his family requested the prison authorities that he be
allowed to see a psychiatrist. The authorities however, refused
their request and as a result Aung Khaing had to spend the
remainder of his sentence in prison without proper medical
assistance. 

Worse still, the authorities later put him in a solitary
confinement cell that was designated for leper prisoners until
his release in June 1998. 

Aung Khaing, a resident of Prone Township who has a degree in
Petroleum Engineering from RIT, was arrested in November 1990 for
his role in the pro-democracy movement and sentenced to 15 years
imprisonment. His sentence was commuted to ten years shortly
after General Than Shwe was installed in 1992 as head of the then
State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC).

Torture and severe beatings in prisons and interrogation centres
in Burma are very common, and there are a number of former
political prisoners who still suffer from mental disorders as a
result. For instance, another former RIT student, Win Thein, was
arrested in December 1991 and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.
As a result of torture during his interrogation, he developed
psychological difficulties by the time he was sent to Insein
Prison. Despite his problems, he had to spend two years in prison
before he could get proper medical assistance after his release
in March 1993. 

All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF)

For more information please contact 01-654 4984, 01-253 9082.