Burma's longest-held political prisoner

By Zin Linn
UPI Asia Online

Bangkok, Thailand — U Win Tin, a veteran Burmese journalist, is the world’s longest serving prisoner of conscience.

Two press freedom associations, Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association, have issued a statement calling for the release of the veteran journalist, who has spent 19 years in solitary confinement under the inhumane junta’s detention.

His health has deteriorated in the past few days. U Win Tin suffers from a serious heart condition and is being treated at the Rangoon General Hospital where he is confined to a tiny box cell designed for political prisoners.

“It will be exactly 19 years on July 4 since Burma’s military arrested Win Tin,” the groups’ statement said. “The government, which has a responsibility to protect the life of its citizens, should now release him,” it went on.

The famous imprisoned journalist has constantly refused to sign a confession promising to abandon his political career as a condition of his release. The 79-year-old was admitted to the hospital for a second surgical treatment for a hernia in January. The first surgery was in March 1995.

The former editor-in-chief of The Hantharwaddy Daily of Mandalay was awarded the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, the World Association of Newspapers' Golden Pen of Freedom Award and Reporters without Border/Foundation de France Prize for his efforts to defend and promote freedom of expression.

Burma has been called “the world's largest prison for prisoners of conscience” including political prisoners and journalists. In addition to being one of Burma's most established journalists, U Win Tin is an executive member of the National League for Democracy. He has spent one-fourth of his life in prison.

U Win Tin has been imprisoned since July 4, 1989, in a special cell of the infamous Insein Prison in Rangoon. He was convicted and sentenced to three consecutive prison terms for a total of 21 years. One of the charges against him stems from his 1995 human rights abuses report to Yozo Yokota, the U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Burma.

U Win Tin was also imprisoned because of his senior position as key consultant to Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy. Additional years were added to his sentence because of his attempts to inform the United Nations about human rights violations in prisons under the military rule. Military rulers also accused him of writing political commentaries and poems to be circulated among political prisoners in Insein Prison, where possession of writing materials was forbidden.

The journalist told a friend who was allowed to visit him in 2007: "Two prison officers asked me at a special meeting last week whether I would resume political activities if I were released. I told them that I will definitely do so since it is my duty as a citizen to strive for democracy."

In 1996, military intelligence personnel regularly visited U Win Tin in prison in order to examine his political stand. They took him to their office in the prison and questioned him on various topics. They frequently tried to persuade him to join the junta. But U Win Tin always turned down their offers.

U Win Tin told the author, who was in the same cell block at that time, about an incident with the authorities. “It happened in 1991,” he said. “They took me out of my cell to an exhibition – ‘The Real Story behind the Big Waves and Strong Winds’ – held at Envoy Hall in Rangoon. The aim of the exhibition was to deplore the 1988 uprising as a riot created by destructive elements and terrorists,” said U Win Tin.

He recounted that there was a big character poster at the doorway of the exhibition saying, “Only when the Tatmadaw (military) is strong, will the nation be strong.” There were many galleries in the show. Each gallery highlighted the role of the army and emphasized that it was the sole force that could defend the nation.

The show also described the junta's discrimination against the role of the democratic institutions and societies. “The final conclusion is that no one except the generals can protect the unity of the nation including its sovereignty," said U Win Tin.

After witnessing the show, the authorities asked U Win Tin what he thought about the exhibition. They gave him some paper and a pen and told him to write down his opinion. "I wrote down my criticism. I used 25 sheets of paper. It was a blunt commentary. I made my explanation in a sense of sincerity and openness. But it irritated them severely," he told me later.

First of all, he criticized the army’s motto, “Only when the army is strong will the country be strong.”

“It's the logic of the generals to consolidate militarism in Burma,” he explained to me later. ‘Their logic tells us that they are more important than the people. They used to say they are the saviors of the country; that’s why they grabbed the sovereign power. That means they neglect the people’s wishes.”

Thus he wrote: “The slogan tells us that Burma is going against a policy of peace and prosperity.” He went on to explain his understanding of the role of the army as the guardian of the nation but with no obligation to be involved in administrative affairs.

He said, “The real thing is that the military comes out of the womb of the people. Thus, the slogan must be like this: ‘The people are the only parents of the military.’ Anyone who does not care about his own parents is a rogue,” he pointed out to the generals.

He also emphasized that if the generals really loved peace and wanted prosperity for the nation, they needed to truthfully reflect on their limitations. The generals might want what’s best for the country, but they did not know how to handle the entire state of affairs. They are accustomed to mismanagement.

“Eventually, I came straight to the point: The army must go back to the barracks. That will make everything better in Burma,” he told me plainly.

The junta was very disgruntled with his criticism and accused him of advising Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to launch a civil disobedience campaign in 1989. Then, they made another lawsuit against him and increased his jail term by 11 years.

They put him alone in his cell. The cell was 8.5 by 11.5 feet. There was only a bamboo mat on the concrete floor. He had to sleep, eat, walk and use the toilet in the same place. He could not see the sun, the moon or the stars. He was intentionally barred from breathing fresh air, tasting nourishing food and drinking a drop of fresh water. The worst thing was throwing the old writer into solitary confinement in such a cage for two decades.

In 1994, U.S. Congressman Bill Richardson met U Win Tin at Insein jail. Since that time he has continuously suffered from various health problems including his hernia, heart disease, failing eyesight and hemorrhoids. It is a surprise to everyone how tough this gallant journalist is.

For the junta, U Win Tin is really a man of steel. Although they wish to defeat him, they could never do it.

U Win Tin’s case is a good example of human rights violations under an inhumane regime. Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

But, the 79-year-old-man has been suffering a variety of inhumane tortures and unjust punishments for 19 years. The United Nations must take responsibility to flex its muscles when human rights are ignored by such an unmanageable regime as that in Burma.

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(Zin Linn is a freelance Burmese journalist in exile. He spent nine years in a Burmese prison as a prisoner of conscience. He now serves as information director of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, and is vice-president of the Burma Media Association. ©Copyright Zin Linn.)