I was reading this story in the paper. Is this the most insanely cruel thing you've ever heard of or what?? 
When-in-the-fuck is that God-awful government going to fall and Aung San Suu Kyi going to finally become Asia's Nelson Mandela?
Prisoners reveal horror of torture in Burma
By Sebastien Berger in Mae Sot
(Filed: 02/12/2005)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...ma02.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/12/02/ixworld.html
Torture techniques used by Burma's security services to terrorise the regime's opponents are revealed in unprecedented detail in a report released today.
Based on the testimony of 35 former political prisoners, it describes beatings, electric shocks, burning with lighters, water tortures and attempts to use dogs to rape male prisoners.
"I can forgive my torturers everything but the sexual abuse," said a victim of the last method. "No religion permits such an act. It has destroyed my self-esteem, my dignity."
Another man was told by his tormentors: "Moe Aye, think carefully and tell us the truth. If you don't, we will make you a homosexual."
The document is published as the UN Security Council prepares to debate Burma for the first time at the request of the US, which specifically cited the country's 1,100 political prisoners.
The most prominent prisoner is Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy leader. This week, the Nobel peace prize winner had her house arrest extended for another six months.
The new report on torture was compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), an exile group based in Mae Sot, just over the Thai border.
"The military regime seeks not only to break down the identity of former political prisoners, but also to make them walking advertisements for the consequences of speaking out against the regime," it says.
"Many former political prisoners repeatedly explain that once they are a political prisoner, they are always a political prisoner."
One stress position used to torture victims it describes is "the aeroplane", whereby prisoners balance on one foot holding out their arms and other leg.
Another is "the motorcycle", where they must balance on the balls of their feet, often with pins beneath their feet, while making engine noises.
A third, "the Semigwa dance", is based on a traditional Burmese performance but involves crawling over gravel on knees and elbows.
Women are not exempt and have been threatened with rape. One female prisoner quoted in the report said: "The officer slapped me a number of times and other officers punched me on the back.
"After that, he threatened that I shouldn't forget I was a virgin. This terrified me more than the beatings."
One of those interviewed for the report, Myo Myint, yesterday described his ordeal in an interview in Mae Sot.
As a Burmese soldier, he lost a foot, hand and most of his remaining fingers fighting Communist insurgents.
But his military record was no defence once he turned against the government.
"As soon as they arrested me they sent me to an interrogation centre," he said. "They punched and hit my face and chest, then they put me on the see-saw."
Tied to what would normally be a playground toy, he was laid head-down and beaten for hours, until his skull pounded with the pressure of blood.
"They showed me the people who had been beaten, all bloody. One of my colleagues was beaten to death."
Released in 1997, he was re-arrested within a month. "The second time was worse. At first they didn't say anything, they just tied me up, kicked and hit me. For 11 days I was not allowed to sleep.
"An iron bar was rolled along my shin until the skin ripped - it really hurt."
Threatened with a third arrest earlier this year and unable to face any more torture, he fled.
Aye Aye Moe, who was not involved in politics but arrested aged 23 after visiting her activist brother, was subjected to surreal questioning and kicked in the breasts and stomach.
"I asked them why I had been arrested," she said. "They asked me why I was there."
A Western diplomat in Rangoon said it was widely known that torture was used by the military regime but its extent was unclear.
While the report covers events dating back to 1988 and seeks to extend the definition of torture to include poor prison conditions and healthcare, Bo Kyi, joint secretary of the AAPP, pointed out that an NLD member was beaten to death earlier this year.
No one at Burma's ministry of information was available to comment yesterday.
When-in-the-fuck is that God-awful government going to fall and Aung San Suu Kyi going to finally become Asia's Nelson Mandela?
Prisoners reveal horror of torture in Burma
By Sebastien Berger in Mae Sot
(Filed: 02/12/2005)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...ma02.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/12/02/ixworld.html
Torture techniques used by Burma's security services to terrorise the regime's opponents are revealed in unprecedented detail in a report released today.
Based on the testimony of 35 former political prisoners, it describes beatings, electric shocks, burning with lighters, water tortures and attempts to use dogs to rape male prisoners.
"I can forgive my torturers everything but the sexual abuse," said a victim of the last method. "No religion permits such an act. It has destroyed my self-esteem, my dignity."
Another man was told by his tormentors: "Moe Aye, think carefully and tell us the truth. If you don't, we will make you a homosexual."
The document is published as the UN Security Council prepares to debate Burma for the first time at the request of the US, which specifically cited the country's 1,100 political prisoners.
The most prominent prisoner is Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy leader. This week, the Nobel peace prize winner had her house arrest extended for another six months.
The new report on torture was compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), an exile group based in Mae Sot, just over the Thai border.
"The military regime seeks not only to break down the identity of former political prisoners, but also to make them walking advertisements for the consequences of speaking out against the regime," it says.
"Many former political prisoners repeatedly explain that once they are a political prisoner, they are always a political prisoner."
One stress position used to torture victims it describes is "the aeroplane", whereby prisoners balance on one foot holding out their arms and other leg.
Another is "the motorcycle", where they must balance on the balls of their feet, often with pins beneath their feet, while making engine noises.
A third, "the Semigwa dance", is based on a traditional Burmese performance but involves crawling over gravel on knees and elbows.
Women are not exempt and have been threatened with rape. One female prisoner quoted in the report said: "The officer slapped me a number of times and other officers punched me on the back.
"After that, he threatened that I shouldn't forget I was a virgin. This terrified me more than the beatings."
One of those interviewed for the report, Myo Myint, yesterday described his ordeal in an interview in Mae Sot.
As a Burmese soldier, he lost a foot, hand and most of his remaining fingers fighting Communist insurgents.
But his military record was no defence once he turned against the government.
"As soon as they arrested me they sent me to an interrogation centre," he said. "They punched and hit my face and chest, then they put me on the see-saw."
Tied to what would normally be a playground toy, he was laid head-down and beaten for hours, until his skull pounded with the pressure of blood.
"They showed me the people who had been beaten, all bloody. One of my colleagues was beaten to death."
Released in 1997, he was re-arrested within a month. "The second time was worse. At first they didn't say anything, they just tied me up, kicked and hit me. For 11 days I was not allowed to sleep.
"An iron bar was rolled along my shin until the skin ripped - it really hurt."
Threatened with a third arrest earlier this year and unable to face any more torture, he fled.
Aye Aye Moe, who was not involved in politics but arrested aged 23 after visiting her activist brother, was subjected to surreal questioning and kicked in the breasts and stomach.
"I asked them why I had been arrested," she said. "They asked me why I was there."
A Western diplomat in Rangoon said it was widely known that torture was used by the military regime but its extent was unclear.
While the report covers events dating back to 1988 and seeks to extend the definition of torture to include poor prison conditions and healthcare, Bo Kyi, joint secretary of the AAPP, pointed out that an NLD member was beaten to death earlier this year.
No one at Burma's ministry of information was available to comment yesterday.
