NCJ Number
130088
Journal
Crime, Law and Social Change Volume: 15 Issue: 2 Dated: (March 1991) Pages: 125-134
Date Published
1991
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Dissent in Burma is brutally suppressed. Many activists are imprisoned in the Insein Prison located near the capital city of Rangoon.
Abstract
Insein Prison's high outside walls are built in a square, but the inside of the facility is shaped like a grandfather clock. Each floor is divided into four long rooms. Prisoners are divided into long-term and temporary detention and according to political and criminal categories. Ward leaders are prisoners, many of whom are senior prisoners convicted of murder, robbery, rape, theft, and pickpocketing offenses. They are required to check the number of prisoners who enter and leave dormitories. They threaten richer prisoners in order to extort food and clothing brought by families during visits. Repressive methods used in the prison include the withholding of food, bathing privileges, medical care, and visitation. Solitary confinement and beatings are also used to punish. Homosexuality and drug use are habitual problems in the prison. The same system of maltreatment and corruption is employed with both criminal and political detainees. 4 notes