AAPP  concerned  about  denial  of  family  visits  for  sick  political  prisoners  
 
 
Press  release                              
8  February  2011  
 
The  Assistance  Association  for  Political  Prisoners  (AAPP)  is  deeply  concerned  about  
the   ban   on   family   visits   for   sick   political   prisoner   Daw   Htet   Htet   Oo   Wai.   She   has   been  
placed  in  solitary  confinement  and  her  family  have  not  been  allowed  to  visit  her  for  three  
months.  Daw  Htet  Htet  Oo  Wai,  a  member  of  the  National  League  for  Democracy  Party,  is  
currently  serving  a  5  year  sentence  in  Putao  prison,  Kachin  State.      
 
Her  daughter  reported:    “my  mother’s  health  is  not  good…she  is  losing  feeling  in  her  
left  leg.    I  am  very  upset  because  we  haven’t  seen  her  for  three  months…We  were  not  allowed  
to  leave  parcels  for  her  either”    
 
Burmese   law   states   that   prisoners   have   the   right   to   receive   visits   once   every   two  
weeks,  a  right  also  provided  for  by  international  human  rights  standards.    In  reality,  this  is  
not  the  case.  In  Burma,  prison  authorities  arbitrarily  suspend  visits  from  family  for  political  
prisoners,   as   well   as   intercepting   and   censoring   letters.   Political   prisoners   are   routinely  
subjected   to   solitary   confinement,   harassment,   and   beatings,   especially   those   who   speak  
out.    
 
“Burma’s   places   of   detention   are   rife   with   abuse   and   inhumane   conditions   are   the   norm,  
therefore,   family   visits   are   vital   not   only   to   the   health   and   survival   of   prisoners   but   also   to  
their  morale  and  mental  well-­being.  The  suspension  of  ICRC  visits  to  Burma’s  prisons,  labour  
camps   and   interrogation   centres   makes   regular   family   visits   even   more   imperative”,   Ko   Bo  
kyi  ,  said.    
 
Burma’s  famous  comedian  and  political  prisoner,  Zarganar  has  faced  a  total  ban  on  
family   visits   for   over   nine   months.   The   last   visit   was   in   May   2010.   He   is   currently   in  
Myitkyina  prison,  Kachin  State,  over  900  miles  from  Rangoon.  
 
Without   family   visits,   the   imprisonment   of   political   prisoners   can   become  
incommunicado   detention.   Incommunicado   detention   arises   when   detainees   are   denied  
access   to   anyone   outside   the   place   of   detention.   In   2003,   the   UN   Commission   on   Human  
Rights  concluded:  "prolonged  incommunicado  detention  ...  can  in  itself  constitute  a  form  of  
cruel,  inhuman  or  degrading  treatment  or  even  torture”.  
 

P.O  Box  93,  Mae  Sot,  Tak  Province  63110,  Thailand,  e.mail:  info@aappb.org,  web:  www.aappb.org  
“The   authorities   often   fail   to   notify   family   members   when   visits   are   cancelled.   Because   the  
journey   to   prisons   is   often   long   and   costly,   this   practice   places   an   unnecessary   burden   on  
family  members    as  was  the  case  with  Daw  Htet  Htet  Oo  Wai’s  daughter  who  arrived  at  the  
prison  to  see  her  sick  mother”,  Bo  Kyi  said.    
 
In   December   2010,  Nilar   Thein,   an   88   Generation   Student   leader,   faced   a   similar  
punishment  after  complaining  about  prison  conditions.    She  was  put  in  a  punishment  cell  
and  denied  the  right  to  family  visits.    When  her  sister  and  3  year  old  daughter  visited  they  
were  turned  away  at  the  prison  gates.    
 
AAPP   has   also   has   received   reports   of   the   authorities   failing   to   inform   family  
members  when  they  transfer  a  relative  to  a  different  prison.  Family  members  arrive  at  the  
prison  only  to  find  their  loved  one  was  transferred  to  a  different  prison  far  away.    
 
The   policy   of   prison   transfers   to   remote   prisons   is   a   deliberate   strategy   employed  
by   the   regime   to   breakdown   the   resolve   of   political   prisoners   by   removing   the   support  
provided  to  them  by  their  families.    In  the  case  of  monk,  U  Pyinnyarsara,  in  October  2010,  
the  authorities  would  not  tell  his  family  or  lawyer  the  prison  where  he  was  transferred  to  
and  they  were  unable  to  visit  him.  
 
At  least  154  political  prisoners  are  in  poor  health  due  to  the  harsh  prison  conditions,  
transfers  to  remote  prisons  where  there  are  no  doctors,  and  the  denial  of  proper  medical  
care.  
 
“The  ban  on  family  visits,  along  with  solitary  confinement,  the  denial  of  medical  care  and  the  
transfer  of  political  prisoners  to  remote  prisons  far  away  from  their  families  has  devastating  
consequences.  Prisoners  also  have  no  effective  complaint  mechanism  to  seek  redress,  granting  
prison   authorities   total   impunity.   Taken   together,   these   forms   of   cruel,   inhuman,   and  
degrading  treatment  rise  to  the  level  of  torture”,  Ko  Bo  Kyi  said.    
 
 
 
Assistance  Association  for  Political  Prisoners  (Burma)  
 
For  more  information:  
 
Tate  Naing  (Secretary):        +66  (0)  81  287  8751  
Bo  Kyi  (Joint  Secretary):      +66  (0)  81  962  8713  

P.O  Box  93,  Mae  Sot,  Tak  Province  63110,  Thailand,  e.mail:  info@aappb.org,  web:  www.aappb.org