Around 350 people including children and political dissidents have been illegally held at a police station for several months in Monywa, Sagaing Region and are facing human rights abuses, according to a rights monitoring group.
A total of 345 people including women, minors and some 200 political dissidents have been illegally imprisoned at No (1) police station in Monywa without charges or court proceedings, Political Prisoners Network (PPN)-Myanmar said.
PPN-Myanmar cofounder Ko Thaik Tun Oo said the detainees include people accused of belonging to People’s Defense Forces or sharing pro-revolution posts on social media, and villagers arrested during junta raids. Also detained are individuals accused by military informants of participating in anti-regime activities.
According to a handwritten eyewitness account from inside the police station seen by The Irrawaddy, the detainees are being kept in three separate cells. One houses 70 males, another houses 25 women, while the remaining 250 are locked in a makeshift corridor-cell. Those being held include 20 children aged 15 and above.
The eyewitness description offers details that match conditions in a concentration camp.
The detainees are suffering human rights violations ranging from insults by police officers to insufficient food, lack of healthcare and a ban on family visits, the note said. Seven were recently forced to accompany junta personnel on a village raid and have not yet returned.
A family member of one detainee said they were forced to bribe police officers to ensure their loved one had enough to eat.
Ko Thaik Tun Oo reported that many of those being held were only getting one meal per day as there was not enough food for so many detainees.
The police station would be overcrowded by even 100 detainees, he said, adding that the number of people currently being detained there matches the capacity of a small prison.
“They are now jailing people at a police station as if it were a prison without even charging them. This is totally against the law,” he said.
Article 21 (b) of the military-drafted 2008 Constitution states, “No citizen shall be placed in custody for more than 24 hours without the permission of a Court.”
PPN-Myanmar’s founder said the detainees had been arbitrarily arrested and were being held as hostages to prevent resistance forces from attacking the police station.
“Their right to life or protection against torture by junta forces cannot be guaranteed since even in prisons, inmates are facing grave human rights violations,” he added.
