This article provides first-hand knowledge, from personal experience, of what it is like to be an inmate in a Burmese prison. Moe Aye, the author, was a political prisoner in Insein Prison from 1990-96. He is now the News Editor of the Democratic Voice of Burma, a Burmese radio station broadcasting uncensored news into Burma from Oslo. (18-JAN-04)

This article was first published in the special Burma inlay following the Norwegian magazine X, # 6, 2004. It is recycled with the consent of both Moe Aye and the Norwegian Burma Committee, one of HRH’s sister organisations in the Human Rights House in Oslo. It has been edited prior to HRH’s republication.  

“Whoever you are, leave it at the prison gate. There are no politicians, doctors, teachers, monks, nuns or students. You are all prisoners. You are all the same, teachers, monks, nuns or students. Mind you, there are no political prisoners here. You are all prisoners. You are all the same”. Those are the greeting words for every political prisoner who arrive the Insein special jail. Although it is a special jail, the only special privilege provided was “special solitary confinement.” Worse, there was no proper medical treatment at that time for us.

Shortage of medicine
Almost every Wednesday, the chief warden made his rounds and checks to see if the prisoners had any complaints or requests. It was the only time we had the right to see a prison doctor. The doctor never gave actual examinations, but only asked us what was wrong. Our blood pressure and heartbeat were never tested and we never saw a doctor with a stethoscope. Regardless of the affliction, all patients were treated with the same medicines, usually a weak pain killer – the cheapest pill in Burma. Occasionally, when we were very fortunate, we were given antibiotics. One cycle of antibiotics is 16 capsules for 4 days but we never received enough capsules. At most, we received 4 capsules. If we complained, the doctors and medics would say, “Why do you think you’re special? There are many other patients here. If you received 16 capsules, how could we provide for the others?”
Once I suffered from a bad toothache in my left jaw. The doctor smiled and said I should use the right side to eat. I became angry and screamed:
-You are not a doctor!
-No. I’m not a dentist either, he said and went away.

High risk of contracting HIV / Aids
One of my inmates suffered from dysentery and asked the doctor to authorize special meals of porridge and boiled water. The doctor answered: -It is impossible to provide boiled water. We don?t even have boiled water to clean the needles at our hospital.
There was a high risk of contracting HIV disease if we were sent to prison hospital. The medical workers had little idea about the deadly virus and neglected cleaning needles and syringes. Those who administered injections were not qualified physicians but other prisoners serving sentences for drug violations. We never paid any attention to the regime’s torture in prison. What we were afraid of was getting injections in the prison hospital. At the patient treatment room there was a small signboard which read: “Today 15 needles permitted for use”. On a daily basis there were 200 patients at the treatment room.

Severe overcrowding
I have heard that there are around 10,000 prisoners in Insein prison. I wonder how medical officers can use such a small number of needles for prison patients. Are they unaware of the situation? The regime has a huge budget for military weapons and the extension of the secret police, but there is no budget for expanding knowledge about HIV/AIDS and treatment of the disease. Thus, there is a limited number of personnel who possess a thorough knowledge of HIV/AIDS. We wondered whether prisons in Burma were HIV/Aids headquarters. Nobody can predict their life in prison and if they will survive. I was lucky.